Oh Baby! This is the good stuff. This recipe really is “The Best” chocolate ice cream recipe. I found it at least 100 years ago (seriously) in my newspaper food section. It is definitely a family favorite.
You are going to need an ice cream freezer. Now the recipe makes enough to fit into a 6-quart ice cream freezer, but you can us a table top one like this. This ice cream freezer is pretty handy. It has a bowl that I just keep in my freezer at all times. When you feel like ice cream pull it out of the freezer and you are ready to go. However, it only makes 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream. Or….
…you could use this! The Granddaddy of all ice cream freezers. As you can tell mine has been very well used. I LOVE IT!!!!! This is what makes it so great…
…for starters the motor is more like a jet engine. It’s loud! Very, very loud. What I think makes this so wonderful is the dasher that turns the ice cream. As you can see it is metal (not plastic) the sides of the dasher are wood. I realized the difference this makes when I was at a girls camp. Yes! I was making homemade ice cream at girls camp. I always take a generator, ice cream freezer and my cuisinart food processor with me to girls camp. Oh, back on track…as I was saying I was at girls camp and needed two ice cream freezers full of ice cream because we had about 40 girls to feed. And everyone knows that you can’t eat apple dumplings without homemade vanilla ice cream. Anyway I had brought my typical ice cream freezer with it’s so, so motor and plastic dasher. My friend brought an old, very old, hand crank freezer and it had a metal dasher and wooden sides. My first thought was, “I hope that thing doesn’t fall apart on us”. Well the ice cream from her freezer was hands down better. It had frozen harder and was creamer. So I came home and started checking every antique shop and yard sale I could find for an old ice cream freezer. In the process someone told me about the White Mountain ice cream freezer. They are NOT cheap (about $200). Worth every penny. The more is so heavy duty that I don’t think I could possible burn it out. Yes! I have burned out several motors in my days of ice cream making. With that said, if you really want a great ice cream freezer buy this for your husband for Father’s Day. I’m not getting paid for saying this, but I’d pay $500 for this awesome machine! Seriously! I LOVE IT!!!!!! Enough! Let’s make ice cream…
Ingredients: Sugar (divided), cocoa (dutch process), cornstarch, salt and vanilla.
You will, also, need whole milk and heavy whipping cream.
Plug: Buy Local. I like to support local products. Winder Dairy is my local dairy of choice. Support them.
In a medium size mixing bowl, beat eggs and 1/2 cup sugar together.
Mix it very well then set aside.
In a larger bowl add the sugar, cocoa…
…add salt…
…and cornstarch.
Give it a whisk.
Stir in 3 cups of whole milk.
Whisk until smooth.
Pour the chocolate mixture into a large saucepan.
Cook over medium-low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. I use a wooden spoon instead of a wire whip because the it beats in too much air. I want my ice cream to be smoother and creamy. If I wanted airy and foamy ice cream, I’d go buy some at the grocery store.
Cook until the mixture starts to boil and thicken.
Ladle in a small amount of the cooked chocolate mixture into the beaten egg/sugar mixture.
Whisk until blended. Keep doing this until you have added about 1 cup of the chocolate mixture.
Pour the egg mixture back into the chocolate mixture.
Stir together and cook until the mixture begins to boil then cook for an additional 2 minutes. Stirring constantly so that it doesn’t scorch on the bottom.
Remove from the heat.
Stir in the vanilla.
I like to pour the liquid through a mesh strainer just in case I have any cooked eggs or lumps. Straining the mixture will help make the ice cream completely smooth without any lumps.
Strain the mixture into a heat proof bowl.
Remember the heavy whipping cream?
Pour the cream into the hot mixture. All four cups!
Give it a whisk.
Mix until the cream and cooked chocolate mixture and well blended.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator OVERNIGHT.
Don’t skimp here. You will get greater volume if you refrigerate overnight. You want your custard to be cold. Even if you are using a “no cook” recipe, it’s still a good idea to refrigerate your mixture overnight.
If you use this, you are going to need…
…this! About 3 bags of crushed ice and rock salt. Follow the instructions from the manufacture of your ice cream freezer for directions on how to freeze.
If you use a table top freezer, you will probably get three batches out of the recipe. You do need to refreeze the bowl before you use it again. It’s a great idea to have an extra bowl. I do and keep that in the freezer at well.
Actually I have two of the table top freezers (??I just do??) and I just plug them both in.
Ohhhh! Here’s the fun part. Pour the cooked mixture that you have refrigerated OVERNIGHT into the drum of the freezer.
Those are not my hairy arms. They’re Ryan’s. Somebody had to take the picture.
Put the dasher in place.
Put on the lid and place into the bucket. Now read the instructions that came with your freezer and do that.
I put on the motor, plug it in and start the turning. Then I layer with crushed ice and rock salt. The White Mountain ice cream freezer generally freezes the ice cream in just 15-20 minutes.
After 15-20 minutes, I unplug the motor, remove it and then I carefully remove the lid. Remember to remove the ice from the lid area. You don’t want any of the salted ice to fall into the ice cream. Look at how smooth and creamy. Awesome.
Remove the dasher and let your kids fight over who gets to lick it clean.
Before you put the lid back on, get a spoon and eat some! Who’s going to know?
Generally the ice cream freezer with come with a cork to put in the hole of the lid where the dasher was. If you don’t have a cork, stuff some plastic wrap into the hole. Put the cover on a cover the lid with more crushed ice and rock salt.
We need to allow the ice cream to “ripen”.
Now we need to wrap the ice cream freezer with a couple of beach towels or a small blanket.
Let it sit for about an hour. The ice cream will continue to harden up a bit. It really is worth the wait.
After an hour carefully remove the towels and ice. Serve.
Scoop it up!
I keep cones on had at all times for the grand kids…and the big kids.
Oops this one is starting to drip and it’s a jumbo cone…MINE!
‘THE BEST’ Chocolate Ice Cream
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa, Dutch processed
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups heavy whipping cream
Combine eggs and ½ cups sugar in a medium size mixing bowl. Beat well then set aside.
Combine the 1 ½ cups sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl or saucepan. Add the milk and stir. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture boils. Remove from the heat. Blend a small amount of the chocolate mixture in with the egg mixture. Stir in about 1 cup of the hot chocolate mixture. Return the egg mixture into the cooked chocolate mixture. Cook an additional 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Pour into a large heat proof bowl and stir in the heavy cream. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Fill the ice cream freezer not more that 2/3 full. Freeze according the manufacturers direction. Makes about 3 quarts of ice cream.
**TIP**
If you want to add any variations to your ice cream like toasted almonds (yum) or chocolate chips, add them the last 5 minutes of freeze time. This means that you stop your ice cream freezer and add them after it has been running for 15 minutes. If you are using a table top freezer, just pour into the top of the open lid. If you add chunks or fruit in at the beginning, they will fall to the bottom of the ice cream and won’t be mixed thoroughly.
There you have it! Homemade ice cream. I plan on sharing other ice cream recipes. When our raspberries are on, I make raspberry chocolate chip. I have a great vanilla ice cream recipe from Aunt Erma that I’ll share.
I’m just waiting for my lavender to bloom so I can make a recipe that I found on “Once Upon a Plate” for Blueberry Lavender. I can’t wait to try that one.
Gotta love ice cream!
Thank you for posting this recipe! I have the ice cream maker, 1 1/2 gallon size, that is very much like yours, and yes it was expensive but worth every penny. Have had mine since 1983, still works great. I LOVE homemade ice cream, but my chocolate always turns out wimpy, so am looking forward to trying your way. Sorry about being a lurker, but don't have a blog, just read them. Love your site, so down to earth.
MaryK
Hi MaryK. White Mtn are THE BEST ice cream freezers. I love mine. I hope you love the chocolate ice cream. I love lurkers. Thanks for chiming in.
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