Chocolate “Truffle” Ice Cream

What a great family visit and birthday. I miss them already! I hope your weekend was a good one and that you feel a bit more refreshed for what the world has to throw at you. My head is still wrapped around my family being here and I am melancholy upon the realization that they won’t be stopping by today.

I was going to give a replay of what activities and all the delicious food we had but I will be listing some of those dishes and thoughts later this week. Today’s recipe was my dad’s favorite for the weekend. (Either that or the Pirate Choppers candy shaped like teeth that provided quite a bit of laughs on our drive back to the apartment. We are cool like that…driving by people with these awful-looking teeth candy smiling. You should try it sometime.)

I am proud of us for hiking the Barn Bluff in Red Wing, Minnesota. I didn’t realize that the trail was so dangerous and narrow but we all made it for an amazing view of the city and beyond (which was Wisconsin across the mighty Mississippi). I think the best picture was my dad pretending to rock climb on this large boulder in the trail. Oh did we have fun! I think we might go back to try rock climbing some day.

Right now, they are traveling back to Indiana. In 11 hours, they will arrive back to a place that I am more familiar with and will see again at Christmas. I hope it’s smooth sailing up to that point for everyone.

My dad loves sugar, this is not news. (He will not read this and be shocked and appalled by my statement.) He coined the name of this when he was describing what he thought it tasted like and I agree. This is some super-chocolatey ice cream, creamy like fudge. I adapted it from a David Lebovitz recipe I found through Brown Eyed Baker but mine is richer.

Chocolate “Truffle” Ice Cream
Makes a little over 1 quart

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate pieces
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 ½ cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Be sure to freeze your ice cream maker’s bowl for the required amount of time.

In a saucepan, warm 1 cup of cream and cocoa powder, whisking together until blended. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on a low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add both chocolates, stirring until smooth. Add another cup of cream and place into a large bowl with a mesh strainer over the top for later.

In the same cleaned saucepan, warm milk, sugar and salt over low and in another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly and then place back into the saucepan. Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it thickens and coats the back of a spatula. Pour this into the strainer over the chocolate mix and stir until smooth, then add the vanilla extract. Allow this to cool and place into airtight container and place in the freezer for a few hours until chilled.

When you remove it from the freezer, add the remaining ½ cup of cream and mix until smooth. Freeze in the ice cream maker according to the instructions of the maker. My ice cream took about 25-30 minutes and came out very creamy but I placed it into the freezer before having some and then gave the rest of the 2 quarts to my dad-just kidding. We all had our share.