Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

O-M-G! This ice cream is so good. In fact, I think it is currently my favorite ice cream flavor. No. I'm sure it's my favorite. I was craving ice cream and was deciding between vanilla or chocolate ice cream. I then went to my "Ice Cream Recipes" bookmark on my computer and saw "Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream" from Simply Recipes.

Fortunately, I had some Ibarra chocolate leftover from a big batch of Mole I'd made for my girlfriend when she came over to visit.

This recipe calls for 6 egg yolks, so I will have to eat this yummy stuff sparingly. I didn't have anymore heavy cream, so I used half-n-half instead. It still came out very creamy and perfect. I don't think I'll ever use heavy cream in my ice cream recipes again since it's slightly lower in fat and still yields great results.

If you don't have Ibarra or any other type of Mexican chocolate, you can substitute Mexican or regular cinnamon with your favorite chocolate. I couldn't taste the cayenne or the instant coffee, but I'm sure it added to the intensity of the flavor. Please try out this great recipe very soon.

Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from Simply Recipes

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half-n-half)
• another 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half-n-half)
  
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 disk and 2 triangles of Ibarra (or 4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• (2 teaspoons cinnamon (ONLY if NOT using Ibarra))
  
• Pinch salt
• Pinch cayenne
• Pinch espresso powder or instant coffee (I used the latter)
• 6 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp brandy (I did not use this, and the ice cream remained "scoopable")

Heat one cup of cream in a small saucepan (1 qt). Whisk in cocoa powder. Bring to a simmer. Whisk until cocoa powder is well incorporated. Remove pot from heat. Stir in chocolate until completely incorporate.

Put mixture into a metal bowl and add the remaining cup of cream. Set that bowl over a larger bowl half-filled with ice water to help cool it down. Place a mesh sieve over the bowl with the chocolate mixture.

Put one cup of milk, the sugar, cinnamon, salt, cayenne, espresso powder (or instant coffee) into a saucepan and heat until steamy (not boiling), stirring to incorporate the spices and dissolve the sugar. Place egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk and mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the heated milk, but not cooked by it. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the milk egg mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes, depending on how hot your burner is.

As soon as the mixture coats the spoon, remove it from the heat and immediately pour it over the mesh sieve into the bowl of the chocolate cream mixture. Stir into the cream mixture.

Add a teaspoon of vanilla. Let the mixture cool a bit in the ice bath and then chill in the refrigerator until completely chilled, a couple hours or overnight. (Right before churning, add 2 Tbsp of brandy to the mix. This is an optional step, but it will help keep the ice cream from getting too icy if it is stored beyond a day.)

Churn the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Store ice cream in an airtight container in your freezer for several hours before eating. The ice cream will be quite soft coming out of the ice cream maker, but will continue harden in your freezer. If you store it for more than a day, you may need to let it sit for a few minutes to soften before attempting to scoop it.

Makes 1 quart.