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)

Cookie Monsters

Figured I'd post a picture and the method for the cookie monsters. The name comes from a dessert at Cheddar's restaurant. Basically, just a chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge. I think Cheddar's might add whipped cream and a cherry, but I didn't have any, so we didn't have them (much to Jeff's and Kevin's chagrin). :) The picture isn't the best because the hot fudge slides off the ice cream and melts it on its way, but they are sooooo good! Especially knowing that everything is homemade! Jaime made the chocolate chip cookies, which we warmed up in the microwave, then topped them with my homemade vanilla ice cream and hot fudge! A perfect end to a yummy meal!

French Vanilla Ice Cream

So I decided a little too late what I was going to do for dessert for today's New Year's Day dinner with Jeff and Jaime. I decided to do homemade Cookie Monsters. If you've eaten at the restaurant Cheddar's, you know what I'm talking about - chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge. I say I decided a little too late because I decided I wanted to try out my ice cream maker finally and make homemade ice cream - but I was limited to the ingredients I had on hand. I did find a recipe in my Complete Idiot's Guide to Homemade Ice Cream for french vanilla ice cream that I was able to do with just a tiny swap. We'll see how it turns out. I can't start making it till 12:30 since I had to let my bowl chill for at least 15 hours. So I'll update later with our verdict, as well as pictures of the whole spread.

So I have to say that this ice cream was soooo good. When it first came out of the ice cream maker, I tasted it as when I transferred it into the freezer container and it was quite sweet. But after sitting in the freezer for a few hours, it tasted perfect. Definitely a recipe I'll make again. Jeff and Jaime thought it was really good, too. They'd made one or two different vanilla ice creams that were so rich and sweet you couldn't eat much of them. Jeff and Kevin both went back for seconds and thirds if that tells you anything. :)

French Vanilla Ice Cream

5 egg yolks
2 cups half-and-half (I used 2 1/2 cups to make up for only having 1 1/2 cups cream)
1 1/3 cups table sugar
2 cups heavy cream (I only had 1 1/2 cups left in my carton)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. I used my KitchenAid.

In a double boiler, over medium heat, add half-and-half and the egg mixture. Stir constantly until temperature reaches 160 degrees or coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil.

Remove from heat, add heavy cream and vanilla. Mix well.

Place a piece of plastic wrap over bowl so you don't have a film build-up.

Cool mixture to 40 degrees in your refrigerator.

Transfer cold formula to an ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.