Chocolate Ice-cream

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1.5-quart electric ice-cream machine or compressor machine
• •Two medium heavy-bottomed saucepans
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Flexible heatproof spatula
• •Fine grater
• •One-quart freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the cold

   Freeze the bowl of your ice-cream machine according to its instructions, usually for at least 24 hours, unless you use a compressor machine. Set a clean bowl over a larger bowl of ice water and place a fine-mesh sieve nearby. Measure three whole yolks, then whisk the fourth separately and add half of it, about 1 1/2 teaspoons or 9 g, to the others. This preserves the source ratio without asking the home churn to hold a brigade batch.

2. 2

   Infuse the milk

   Put the whole milk and split vanilla bean in a medium saucepan. Bring the milk just to the boil over medium heat, watching for the first rise around the edge, then remove it immediately, cover, and infuse for 20 minutes. Lift out the vanilla bean, scrape its seeds into the milk, and discard the pod or rinse and dry it for vanilla sugar.

3. 3

   Dissolve the chocolate

   While the milk infuses, bring the water to a bare simmer in a second saucepan. Add the grated chocolate by handfuls, whisking after each addition until it dissolves into a smooth, dark emulsion. Keep the heat low and continue whisking for 2 to 3 minutes, with no dry flecks remaining. If it tightens or looks grainy, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of the warm infused milk; ça se rattrape. Do not proceed until the chocolate is perfectly smooth.

   Chocolate and water are deliberate here. The measured quantity of water is sufficient to disperse the grated chocolate smoothly; trouble comes from adding only a stray splash, not from this full proportion.
4. 4

   Blanchir the yolks

   Blanchir, meaning whisk until pale, the yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl for 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture should become thick enough to fall from the whisk in a slow ribbon. Whisk promptly once sugar touches yolk, because sugar left sitting on their surface draws out moisture and forms stubborn little grains.

5. 5

   Cook à la nappe

   Gradually whisk the hot vanilla milk into the dissolved chocolate, keeping the emulsion smooth. Pour one-third of this hot chocolate mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly, then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring continuously with a flexible spatula and sweeping the bottom and corners, until the crème anglaise, a stirred custard, reaches 82 to 84°C (180 to 183°F) and coats the spatula in an even film. This is à la nappe. Draw a finger through the coating; the line should remain clean. Never let it boil. At the first sign of tiny curds, remove the pan, set it in the ice bath, and blend briefly before straining. Ça se rattrape if you act at once; a custard allowed to boil into firm curds cannot be restored by a sieve.

6. 6

   Chill it completely

   Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set over ice water, stirring until it loses its warmth and falls below 10°C (50°F). Press reusable wrap or baking parchment directly onto the surface and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, until thoroughly cold at 4°C (40°F) or below. A lukewarm base freezes slowly and grows coarse crystals; chilling is not waiting-room business, it is part of the technique.

7. 7

   Churn and set

   Whisk the cold base briefly to restore an even texture, then churn according to your machine's instructions until it has the body of thick soft ice cream, usually 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer it promptly to a chilled one-quart container, press parchment directly against the surface, cover, and freeze for about 3 hours for firm scoops. If it becomes very hard after longer storage, leave it at room temperature for 8 to 12 minutes before serving. Dense is correct; icy is not. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This formula specifically assumes sweet chocolate. Choose a dark bar around 55 to 65% cacao and keep the full sugar quantity, because cold suppresses sweetness. Unsweetened chocolate is not an equal substitution here and would require a different formula.
• •Whole milk is intentional. Adding cream may sound generous, but it changes the source's proportions, softens the clean cacao flavour, and gives a heavier result. The yolks and cacao butter provide the richness this glace needs.
• •Grate the chocolate finely while it is cool and firm. Small, even particles dissolve into the water before any portion can scorch; large chunks leave you whisking too long over heat.
• •Without an ice-cream machine, freeze the cold base in a shallow metal pan and beat it vigorously every 30 minutes for the first 2 to 3 hours. The result will be denser and slightly less fine, but the flavour remains true.
• •Serve the glace by itself or beside a plain birthday gâteau. It needs no syrup, cream, or ornamental greenery. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •If your machine uses a freezable bowl, freeze it at least 24 hours before churning. A partially frozen bowl cannot remove heat quickly enough and leaves the glace loose and coarse.
• •The custard base can be made the evening before and refrigerated overnight with its surface covered. The longer chill improves both texture and the integration of chocolate and vanilla.
• •The finished glace keeps well for about one week in an airtight container with parchment against its surface. Let it soften for 8 to 12 minutes before scooping after extended freezing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)