Double Chocolate Ice Cream for My Mom's Birthday

Chocolate Yumminess

This weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday, and she requested that I make her ice cream. She really didn't have to twist my arm on this one. I've been on an ice cream kick lately, and was excited to try out a different chocolate ice cream recipe.



Gloppy



Before I delve into the ice cream, however, let me take a minute to talk about my mom. I never give her enough credit, but she is a good mom. Whenever I'm sick, she's there, either making me toast or bringing me Jamba Juice. When I had to have my gallbladder removed, my mom was there at the hospital with me, holding my hand until the doctor wheeled me away. She was also there when it was time to put my old dog Ducky down and I wasn't strong enough to go into the vet's office. But my mom isn't just there when things are down. I have also had some great times with my mom, like riding the Rockin' Roller Coaster at Disney World on Mother''s Day, or travelling Scotland and Ireland together. My mom is also a loyal supporter of my bellydancing, and has sewed two costumes for me. In fact, my mom has sewed many costumes for me since I was a little girl. So, when my mom asked me to make ice cream for her, it was a no-brainer.

Now for the ice cream. It is creamy. It is chocolaty. It is a little bit crunchy. Simply put, it is delicious. It is chocolate stracciatella ice cream. For those of you not in the know, stracciatella is an Italian thing. When you go to my favorite gelato shop in Rome (the one with over 100 flavors), you will see several stracciatellas. Standard stracciatella is sweet cream gelato with ribbons of chocolate in it. I decided to make a bittersweet chocolate ice cream with ribbons of semi-sweet chocolate. My mom loves chocolate ice cream, so I figured this would be perfect. And it was.



Churning...

 Chocolate Ice Cream
from The Perfect Scoop

2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 lrg egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, setting a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Enjoy!

Stracciatella
from same book as above

5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

Melt the chocolate in a liquid measuring cup by zapping it in the microwave at 30-second intervals. I think mine took about 1 minute total. At the very last second of churning the ice cream, drizzle in the melted chocolate in thin streams, making sure not to get chocolate on the dasher. You can also spoon some into the ice cream as you layer it in a plastic container, making sure to break up the chunks.