Ice
Cream ->Category
-> Chocolate Ice Cream
Chocolate Ice Cream
Although
not only an American invention, ice
cream ranks along with hot dogs, hamburgers,
and apple pie is a symbol of America. The first written record
of its arrival here was in 1742 when ice cream use to get
served at a dinner given by the then Governor of Maryland.
But it wasn't until Thomas Jefferson took a trip to France
and tasted for the first time ice cream which containing eggs
that the custard style ice cream made its way to America.
The four main ingredients
in custard are cream, sugar, eggs, and also flavoring. It
is important to get the right mix of these good ingredients
so the ice cream will have that smooth texture and also will
carry rich flavor us so desire. The amount of cream used and
its butterfat content gives ice cream its rich and very good
creamy taste. However, too much fat can cause a heavy product
and small’s lumps of "butter" may form which
produces that grainy texture which is very often found in
homemade ice creams. Sugar gives the ice cream its smoothness
but too much sugar would prevent the ice cream from freezing.
Eggs are necessary for the smoothness and also give the ice
cream its nice color. Making the custard the night before
so it has time to chill sufficiently allows the ice cream
to freeze before the churn gets it too warm and gives the
ice cream its smooth texture.
Chocolate ice cream
is one of the favorite
flavors and this recipe is
definitely for the chocolate lover as it uses both cocoa powder
and also semisweet chocolate. Using two types of chocolates
gives a rich chocolate taste with a very silky smooth texture.
Make sure that the cocoa powder is fully whisked into half-and-half
and there are no lumps. The same is true when stirring in
semisweet chocolate. Even more chocolate flavor can be had
by folding in white or could be dark chunks of chocolate into
the freshly churned ice cream.
The custard should only fill
your ice cream with machine about half to two thirds full.
This is so the custard has enough room to expand while it
freezes so you could end up with an ice cream with a light
texture and with no graininess. As the ice cream is still
quite soft once it has been churned in the ice cream machine,
transfer it to a storage container and place it in the freezer
for few hsours before serving. This also allows the flavors
to mellow. Although people prefer to eat
homemade ice cream the day it is made,
it can be stored for a few weeks in the freezer. It will become
quite hard after being fully frozen for any length of time
so transfer it to the refrigerator to soften for about 30
minutes before serving.
Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream
[1.5 quarts]
Chocolate Ice Cream mix (reduce to 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 cup raspberries
Mash raspberries together with 1/4 cup sugar.
Just before adding to ice cream maker, stir juice from berries
into mix.
Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's
instructions. Just before frozen, add berries.
Note: Fresh raspberries produce
better ice cream, but frozen raspberries will still make an
excellent treat. However, don't use raspberries frozen in
syrup).
