Devil's Food Chocolate Ice Cream

Moving into our new apartment has been all about culling: what do we absolutely need? What will fit? What needs to go back to the in-laws until we have more room? It's a tricky thing, and I've had to be cold-hearted about a lot of my stuff. That's why I was asked three times, by three separate family members, "You're keeping the ice cream maker??" Yes, and for excellent reasons, as they were soon to find out.

I can't tell you how long I've waited to make this ice cream. It's been on my list of things to make since at least May, but I needed for the stars to be aligned--in other words, for my ice cream maker to be in the same place as me. I also had to finish my summer fruit dessert obsession. But sadly, this is the last ice cream recipe in the book. I've now finished out two categories.

OK, here are our key ingredients. Note that the brand of honey "Lune de Miel" means honeymoon. You may or may not be able to see that it comes in this cool squeezable plastic pouch. Also note that I'm using old (Ghiradelli) chocolate that probably spent weeks melting in a shipping container and new (Nestlé) chocolate. Guess which one worked better.

You can see the two chocolates here: nice, smooth, dark chocolate, mixed in with grainy, separated chocolate. But it's OK--the old chocolate finally smoothed out when melted. Kind of like the nasty old chocolate chips Alicia used for the glaze on the Boston Cream Pie.

Here is my finished custard getting ready to hit the ice cream maker. Note that there's not much. I divided the recipe, which is written to make 3 quarts (!), by 6 to make a pint. I don't think it really did...

Note my tiny freezer, completely dominated by the Donvier. I had to take out a shelf to fit it.


The custard hits the cylinder. Don't you wish you had some?

I have to say that the amount I made was just enough to cause family disharmony. Everyone wanted more, but there wasn't more, and all the bowls and beaters were licked very clean. This is delicious, rich, chocolatey ice cream.

A day later the girls and I were strolling around Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where there was a sort of street festival going on--musicians, donkey carts, flea market. We stopped for an ice cream cone at a shop that was selling the famous Berthillon ice cream from Paris. We agreed that the chocolate ice cream was just not as good as the one we'd had the night before.

Here's the recipe, in the original quantity plus the amounts (in weight) I used. Make just enough to cause a bit of family disharmony.

Devil's Food Chocolate Ice Cream

21 oz. (3.5 oz.) semisweet chocolate

2 c. (2.7 oz.) milk

3/4 c. (1.4 oz.) honey

14 (2) egg yolks

1-1/3 c. (1.5 oz.) sugar

Pinch salt

4 c. (5.3 oz.) cream

Melt the chocolate with the milk and honey over medium-low heat in a smallish saucepan. In the meantime, put the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and use an electric mixer or whisk to beat them to a fluffy, light consistency. Gradually pour the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisk that well, and then return it all to the saucepan. Put it back over medium-low heat and stir and scrape until the mixture reaches 140 degrees on a thermometer (I guess this would be the spoon-coating stage if you don't have a thermometer). Strain the mixture into a large bowl or glass measuring cup, and then gradually whisk in the cream (and a little vanilla if you feel like it). Chill the cream in the refrigerator (or in the freezer or in an ice bath if you're feeling impatient) until it's very cold. Then freeze it in an ice cream maker. Maida says to let it sit in the freezer for 8 hours before serving, but it was delicious straight from the ice cream maker. Enjoy the creamy goodness and don't let anyone steal your rightful portion.