Chocolate Ice Cream

Tonight I prepped a batch of homemade chocolate ice cream. It'll cool in the refrigerator overnight and I'll be able to pop it in the ice cream maker in the morning. I'm excited to see how it turns out. The recipe came from my Complete Idiot's Guide to Homemade Ice Cream. UPDATE: We couldn't wait for it to set up completely, so we ate it at more of a soft-serve consistency. This was really good! Very rich, though. I think next time I'll use just three squares of chocolate and see how that goes over. We didn't seem to notice a difference with using the 2% milk instead of the heavy cream, either. So that is good! Carson loved this - he kept coming back for a little more and got mad when we told him he couldn't have anymore!

Chocolate Ice Cream

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 cups half-and-half
3 cups heavy cream (I decided to try substituting 2% milk instead)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Melt the grated chocolate in a double boiler over low heat (simmering water) - do not boil. Add 1 cup half-and-half very slowly to the mixture. Mix until smooth and creamy. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the half-and-half, heavy cream (milk), sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add the melted chocolate mixture and mix.

Cool mixture to 40 degrees in your refrigerator.

Transfer cold formula to ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. (which for the KitchenAid is roughly 15-20 minutes)