Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
This ice cream is at once cool, creamy, rich and a little spicy. Use the darkest chocolate you can find for the deepest cocoa flavor. The recipe is adapted from the blog Oui, Chef.
Makes about 1 quart
For chocolate paste:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1 ⁄2 ounces dark chocolate (I used Montezuma's 100% cacao bar), chopped
For ice cream base:
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄4 cups heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1⁄2 cup roasted, salted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped, for topping (optional)
Prep time: 15 minutes. Cooling time: 7 hours. Total time: 7 hours, 15 minutes.
Make the chocolate paste: Combine cocoa, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, add dark chocolate, and stir until smooth.
Make ice cream base: Make a slurry by mixing 2 tablespoons whole milk and cornstarch in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese, warm chocolate paste and salt until smooth.
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine remaining milk, the cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in cornstarch slurry. Place mixture back over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring continuously, until mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove mixture from heat and slowly whisk the hot ice cream base into cream cheese mixture until completely smooth. Add cinnamon and cayenne and stir well.
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into another large bowl. Cover and place in refrigerator to chill, at least 2 to 3 hours. When fully chilled, pour ice cream base into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
Pack the ice cream into a freezer-safe container and seal. Freeze until ice cream is firm, at least 4 hours. Serve topped with salted macadamia nuts, if desired.
Per serving (1⁄2 cup, with macadamia nuts): 386 calories, 39g carbohydrate, 6g protein, 26g fat (13g saturated), 93 mg sodium, 3g fiber.