Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Psst! It's Kind of Amazing)

Right now I'm regretting all of the chocolate cake I ate yesterday while I watch my sister do a workout in the living room from a workout video. Have I told you this already? My sister is engaged and getting married soon so I wanted to treat her to some of her favorite desserts for her big bridal shower.... which led to a very long drive home to CA, 150+ big salted chocolate chip cookies and tripling our ("the only") favorite chocolate cake recipe... and of course someone had to eat the little bits of left over cake right? #itssogood(ps. The trip was way way too short and kind of a whirlwind, and going home to CA right now is like ripping a bandaid off slowly... especially when it's full of the faces I love, so, my dear friends back home, if I didn't see you this last trip it's because it was too fast, and because I'm still a baby and hate seeing the people I love knowing I have to travel back to Utah so soon. Sometimes I feel like an orca stuck in a Sea World tank up here in UT. Yes, I just called myself a baby and a whale at the same time. Not in a mean way, it's just the truth.)Also, my dad's birthday was this weekend. This chocolate ice cream isn't his number one dessert of choice (he's more of a pie pan), but it is somewhat funny because he didn't even like chocolate ice cream until he met my mom. In college they'd run far to an ice cream shop, get a scoop and then run back, you know to even those calories out. My dad said he didn't even know ice cream could be a main food group until he met my mom too, lol - and it's true. As a family, ice cream is a big part of our lives. It's one of the first things we offer when a guest comes over. We celebrate with it, we drive (or run) far to get a scoop and we dive into a pint during our late night talks at the kitchen table. Now Dad is a big fan of chocolate ice cream and dare I say when that ice cream is from-scratch, he's all in.While buying a pint is a lot less effort, it is incredibly amazing to make you're own ice cream. Yes, you have to churn it, but really, that's like the funnest bit! I don't know why people complain about that. (I do have some no-churn ice cream recipes I've been working on though, hang tight.)The hardest part about making ice cream is not eating it all yourself, lol!No, really, the hardest part about ice cream is making the base, or otherwise known as the custard - but I walk you through it below, don't worry.This is hands down, my favorite from-scratch chocolate ice cream (and trust me I've made a lot of chocolate ice creams!). It's clean tasting, meaning doesn't feel heavy on the tastebuds but it's still rich - which is exactly what the chocoholic in me wants. With the tiny specs of dark chocolate throughout, it strikes that perfect balance of bittersweet with the smallest hint of salt that leaves you wanting more and more. Like, if there was one ice cream flavor to represent me and my obsession of my two loves (chocolate and ice cream)- this would be it.Love you friends. xo

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar ConesThis is hands down, my favorite from-scratch chocolate ice cream (and trust me I've made a lot of chocolate ice creams!). Also If you're feeling a bit adventurous, a drizzle of fruity olive oil with a tiny sprinkling of sea salt over the top of a scoop of this is AHMAAZING. John doesn't care for it, but I love it.special equipment: ice cream machine

• 5 large egg yolks ( preferably pasture raised)
• ¾ cup sugar ( divided in half, so 6 tablespoons each)
• ¼ cup / 30g Dutch processed or natural cocoa powder ( measured then sifted (see note about which cocoa powder to choose above))
• 1 cup / 237ml 2% or whole milk ( preferably grass-fed)
• 1 ¾ cup / 414ml heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• scant ½ cup / 100g dark chocolate bar (chopped, optional (see sources at the bottom of the post))

1. Get out two bowls: one large bowl and one bowl that will fit inside of that bowl. In the large bowl: prepare an ice bath by putting a little cold water with a lot of ice. Place the other bowl in ice bath without getting any of the cold water or ice into it. We'll come back to these bowls later. Set aside.
2. In a glass or stainless steel medium-sized bowl, whisk together your egg yolks and 6 tablespoons of sugar until just combined and set aside.
3. In a heavy-bottomed, dutch oven like pot (over no heat yet), whisk together your cocoa powder, remaining sugar (6 tablespoons) and slowly stream in ¼ cup of milk. tip! Milk can be cold, but room temperature is best. You need to add the milk slowly to the cocoa powder or else the cocoa powder will clump up. Continue adding the rest of the milk in a slow steady stream until you get smooth, bubbly chocolate milk mixture - about 1 minute.
4. Whisk cream and salt into the chocolate milk mixture and transfer the pot to a medium heat. Heat until the mixture reaches a bare simmer; so mixture should quiver and have tiny bubbles on top but not be boiling. 
5. Take mixture completely off the heat for now. Next scoop ¼ cup of this hot chocolate milk mixture and slowly stream it into your egg yolk mixture. We're tempering the eggs here, or bringing the eggs to the same temperature as the hot chocolate milk without cooking our eggs. It's REALLY important that we stream this hot chocolate mixture in really slowly so we don't scramble our eggs. Don't be scared, we got this. 
6. Repeat this process 3 more times or until you've reached 1 cup of the hot chocolate mixture added to the yolks in total.
7. Dump your new egg yolk + hot chocolate milk mixture back into pot and return to a low heat.
8. With a heat resistant spatula, continue stirring, gently scraping the bottom until the mixture significantly thickens, about 2-5 minutes. You'll know the mixture is thick enough because it will coat the back of the spatula and leave a line if you run your finger across it. Note that the mixture won't be incredibly thick at this point but just thick enough - because it will thicken much more as it cools in the fridge.
9. Once mixture is thick, pour into the bowl over your prepared ice bath. Stir with spatula to cool down the custard for a few minutes.
10. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 6 hours. (Overnight is preferable.) 
11. Once custard is cold, place in your ice cream maker and after 3-5 minutes add your chocolate chunks as the maker churns. (You need to add your chocolate at the beginning of the churn or they wont be fully incorporated.) Churn until thick and ice-cream-like. You can eat it out of the ice cream maker as is or put it into a tin or container and freeze for 4 hours or until firm.
12. Scoop, or eat straight out of the tin. I could seriously eat this whole recipe by myself. I KNOW. Myles loved sneaking bites of this too. xo

Just like I learned from the cookbook this recipe came from, if you make this ice cream with dutch processed cocoa it makes for a much richer, almost truffle like ice cream. If you make it with regular (non-dutch processed) cocoa it makes for a more milk chocolate ice cream. Both are fantastic, but I lean more towards the dutch processed cocoa for this recipe.tip! Make sure your ice cream maker is all ready - I had to put a portion of mine in the freezer to chill it, so if you need to do that too, do it now. Also note you need 3 bowls here that can withstand high heat. 

RESOURCES:

King Arthur Double Dutch CocoaPump Street Bakery Chocolate , which I purchased at Whole Foods.Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones cookbook