Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

The neighborhood Baskin-Robbins had closed. In my house this qualifies as a full-blown crisis.

It was natural then that one of the first ice creams I would make in my new Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker would be mint chocolate chip. I wanted this to be the best possible ice cream I could make. Therefore I gravitated toward the recipes using egg yolks. These recipes require a little more work but result in a much richer feeling on the tongue.

This was roll-your-eyes good. My Sweet Lady Wife's words upon first taste were, "Oh this is good!" Here second words - keep in mind she is trying to lose weight - were, "Please don't make this very often."

I served it in my first attempt at making hippenmasse, those edible bowls you see dessert served in. This first attempt did not come out very well. I had trouble spreading the dough thin enough on the cookie sheet. When I get it perfected I will post complete how-to-instructions.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
green food coloring

Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and mint extract togther in a small bowl until smooth and pale yellow. Set aside.

Set aside 1/2 cup milk. Combine the cream and remaining milk in a saucepann heat to not quite a boil. Keep it that way, sirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

Prepare an ice bath by placing ice cubes in a large bowl and adding enough water to cover them. Set aside.

Whisking constantly, pour a small amount of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture. Then pour all the egg/cream mixture back into the remaining cream mixture. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk.

Trasfer the mixture to a medium bowl and immerse it in the ice bath. Stire until completely chilled. Stir in the green food coloring a few drops at a time until the mixture reaches the desired color. Chill the mixture for 4 hours.

Place it in the ice cream freezer, turn it on, and get out the spoons.

Comments

[shuna fish lydon]

I'll share a secret with you. Baskin Robbins is one of the best CMC ice creams. But this is why: because the "chips" are tiny shavings of previously melted chocolate.

Melt chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. When ice cream is churned, drizzle this chocolate in.

I guarantee you a marked difference.

But I do want to know why you're not using fresh mint? then you could omit the food coloring...

[scott]

Just want to share a little secret i discovered. Very few people know about this, but the Great Northwest Ice Cream Company, which is a ma and pa store in Vancouver that sells gourmet handmade ice cream to local restaraunts (Beaches, Oba', and many others), recently started selling their ice cream mix. Why is this big news?? Because you can't make ice cream at home w/o it getting at least a little bit crystally...and you can't get this anywhere else. Their mix is homogonized, eliminating the crystalization. So you end up with much creamier and better tasting ice cream.

Not only that, but with their mix, you pour it in your mixer, and walk away. No adding of eggs, sugar, etc. Just eat it straight (i think they call that sweet danish cream) or add some vanilla, or mint, chips, etc.

The only problem is that it is so easy, that you are inclined to make the stuff every night. And this is BAD BAD BAD for the diet because they use the highest butter fat. But if you want good ice cream, its the only way to go.

Seriously, try this stuff! You will not be disappointed. Oh, and its all natural (no hormones).

[Justin]

I'm sure homogenization helps but my understanding is that the colder the ice cream mix is when you put it in to your ice cream maker and the faster it's frozen the smaller the ice crystals will be and the creamier the final texture will be.

[Pat]

The advantage of using homogenized ice cream mix is that the fat molecules are broken up into very small, very smmooth particles under the pressure and heat of the homogenizing process. Although Justin is partially correct, the mix being cold when put into the ice cream maker has no effect on the creaminess of the final product. The more quickly the mix is frozen down the smoother the ice cream. But that only has an effect once the mix begins to freeze down and particles start to form. At that point it is very important that the freezing process move along quickly, which inhibits the growth of large ice crystals.

Our ice cream mix is not only homogenized but also contains natural stabilizer that also inhibit the growth of ice chrystals.