French Chocolate Ice Cream

Ever since I made Vanilla Ice Cream, I can't get past the idea that I CAN MAKE MY OWN ICE CREAM! Meaning I can have peanut butter AND Oreos AND chocolate chips AND just about anything I might fancy putting in. Isn't that great?!
This French Chocolate Ice Cream is from the book CHOCOLATE by Nick Malgieri. And it's absolutely divine. The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt 70%), and with that kind cast, I just knew it was going to be hugely rich and intensely chocolate-y. And boy did it impress! If you're wondering what the taste is like, or rather its intensity, think Haagen Dazs Belgian Chocolate ice cream. The bitterness can be lightened up a bit by using milk chocolate instead.

Create one for yourself!

French Chocolate Ice Cream

4 C milk
1 C heavy cream
1 1/4 C sugar
10 egg yolks
1 C cocoa powder
4 oz best-quality bittersweet chocolate (or milk chocolate)

1. Combine milk, cream, and sugar in a large saucepan and whisk twice to mix. Place over low heat and bring to full boil.
2. Beat yolks together and temper* with the boiling milk. Return all mixture to pan and whisk constantly until custard thickens, about 20 seconds at the most. Be careful not to overcook custard or it will scramble.Whisk in cocoa and chocolate.
3. Remove pan from heat and pour through a strainer into a pot set over ice water. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill the cooled custard overnight.
4. Freeze in an ice cream machine.

If you don't have an ice cream machine, pour cooled custard into a 4 qtz Kitchen Aid bowl and freeze for 1 hour or until the side begins to set up. Process with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed for 30 seconds and return to freezer. Repeat 3 times or until mixture is creamy. Transfer to a freeze-stable container.

*to temper is to pour a little of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture while whisking. This enables the yolk to heat up, thus preventing it from prematurely cooking when poured into the the rest of the hot liquid.