Chocolate Ice Cream (with ice cream maker)

Chocolate Ice Cream

Yield: ~2 quarts

Time: Forever

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 c. sugar (split: 1/4 c. with egg yolks, 3/4 c. in the cream)
• 4 c. heavy cream
• 4 c. milk (whole, 2%, 1%)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 pkg. powdered gelatin
• 8 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 2 T. vanilla

• Ice
• Ice cream salt

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg yolks and the 1/4 c. of sugar until the mixture thickens and turns pale yellow. Set aside. 
2. In a large sauce pan stir together cream, milk, salt, and 3/4 c. of sugar. On a medium heat bring the mixture to a light simmer stirring occasionally and making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan (this dissolves the sugar into the milk.)
3. Pour around 1/2 c. of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks and stir rapidly (this tempers the egg mixture.) Add the egg mixture into the rest of the milk mixture then add in the powdered gelatin and heat on a lower medium temperature, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly. Because this recipe doesn't have very many egg yolks it won't thicken a lot, so make sure you don't overheat it and make it split. 
4. Once the mixture thickens turn off the heat and then mix in the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, and vanilla. The cocoa powder will clump if you're not careful so consider sifting it onto the surface of the milk mixture and then stirring it in thoroughly. 
5. Pour the mixture in to a large mixing bowl and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours (or until the mixture is completely cold.) Put the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the maker's instructions. Serve immediately for soft serve or freeze for a few hours for hard serve.