Anyway, the main principles I discussed in my Vanilla Ice Cream post apply to Chocolate Ice Cream as well. The key difference between the two recipes is of course the flavoring used. In this recipe we will be using cocoa powder to create an intense chocolate flavor. As always, the quality of the ingredients that you use account for the quality of the final product. But that is why you are a home cook in the first place: you want to make a high quality product that tastes great.
Back to cocoa powder. As I am sure you are aware, there are a lot of different kinds of cocoa powder out there and this is where the fun comes in. Remember excellent cocoa powder = excellent chocolate ice cream. You could experiment with different kinds of cocoa powder and see what kind of flavor your ice cream has. An excellent place to buy cocoa powder is www.chocosphere.com. I use Callebaut Belgian Cocoa Powder 22-24% Fat Content. I had to buy a 1 kilogram (kg) bag which is equivalent to 2.2 pounds (lbs). I know its a lot, but there are so many things you can do with cocoa powder that it is well worth buying in this quantity. The Chocosphere people are wonderful. They have a good website and lots of different types of chocolate for sale from a wide variety of manufacturers. Don't hesitate to call them as they are very helpful. Highly Recommended! (P.S.: They have lots of different kinds of chocolate chips for cookies too!!!)
Now as my cocoa powder is labeled as "Belgian" I believe that is has undergone the "dutching" process. Native cocoa powder is acidic and in the dutching process, base is added to neutralize the acidity. Although this sounds a bit chemical, there's nothing wrong with this. (Breathing is chemical too by the way. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be reading this) The dutching process enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I believe that Cooks Illustrated did an article on this a few months ago. Check them out, they are an authoritative source on many topics.
Now on to the recipe. As you may have noticed, in this recipe I only use 1 egg yolk. Testing showed me that I only needed one. Also, after the ice cream base cools in the refrigerator, you will need to stir the mix before you pour it in the ice cream maker because some of the chocolate solids will settle out.
In the recipe, I specify using 3 ounces of cocoa powder. In order to measure this out you will need a scale. I highly recommend buying yourself a good scale. This is one of those kitchen gadgets that is worth every penny and let me emphasize that I add gadgets to my kitchen very sparingly. You won't find any "strawberry hullers" in my gadget drawer.
Why should you buy a scale? Recipes normally use volumetric measurements like cups and teaspoons to measure out ingredients. Volumetric measurement of solid ingredients can be highly variable. This is due to the "compressibility" of the powders being measured. The compressibility is the difference between the tap density and bulk density of the powders. For example, table sugar and table salt have a low compressibility because the flowability of the powders is so good. Flour on the other hand has a big difference between the tap and bulk density. Thus many recipes recommend sifting the flour before hand so as to achieve uniform control over the amount of flour being used in the recipe. Too much or too little flour can mean a failed baked good. Weighing ingredients takes all of the guess work out of the recipe. So by all means, buy a good scale for your kitchen and you won't regret the expenditure. When you do buy your scale pay attention to the overall capacity of the scale. It's sensitivity (ability to reliably measure small quantities) depends on the ultimate capacity of the scale. For example, you don't want to measure a 1 pound quantity on a bathroom scale which can measure up to 300 pounds. Your measurement will have too much error in it. So get your self a cooking scale or food/diet scale which has an upper range of say 2 -3 pounds. You may also want a scale with a larger capacity, say 10 pounds as well. Take good care of your scale and it will last you a long time.
Since you might not have a scale handy, I estimated that 2/3 of a cup of cocoa powder should weigh three ounces. But of course, I did not "pack" the cocoa into my measuring cup and if you use a different brand of cocoa powder you may need more or less of it. See why you should buy a scale? Now at last the recipe is below....
Amount | Ingredient |
3 cups | Heavy Cream |
1 | Egg Yolks |
3 oz (or 2/3 cup) | Cocoa Powder |
2/3 cups | Sugar |
Pinch | Kosher Salt |
Directions
1. 1. Put the cream, cocoa powder and egg yolk in a blender.
2. 2. Blend the cream, cocoa powder and egg yolk together at a medium speed for 15 seconds.
3. 3. Put the sugar and salt in a sauce pan.
4. 4. Add the cream/cocoa/egg mixture to the sauce pan with stirring.
5. 5. Heat the mixture in the sauce pan with continuous stirring over medium heat until a thermometer registers 175 F.
6. 6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pass the ice cream base through a sieve.
7. 7. Put the ice cream base in the refrigerator and chill it completely.
8. 8. When the ice cream base has been chilled, set up the Kitchen Aid mixer insert and turn on the mixer.
9. 9. Add the chilled ice cream base to the Kitchen Aid insert and mix for 17 ½ minutes.
1110. Stop the mixer and transfer the ice cream to a plastic container and freeze overnight.
1111. Enjoy eating your excellent homemade ice cream.
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Hi, please feel free to post comments or questions. My current thinking is to answer your questions with a separate post. That could change. But you knew that didn't you?