Ice cream makers are fantastic, and I do own one at home. However, at boarding school I’m rather lacking in specialist culinary equipment. So how did I create this creamy, fudgy ice cream studded with dark chocolate pieces?
You can, of course, go with the ‘stir & freeze’ approach. Unfortunately, this is time-consuming and rather fruitless, as the resulting ice cream is inevitably marred by iciness. The typical ‘no-churn’ ice cream that skyrocketted to popularity uses sweetened condensed milk – so I decided I’d make my own!
Yes, boiling the milk with dextrose and cocoa is a tad annoying, but at least you don’t have to cook it for hours. That’s the benefit of evaporated milk, you see – they’ve done the hard work for you! Oh, and licking out that saucepan with the pudding-like remnants is reason alone to take this approach.
This ice cream is sure to leave you satisfied with all its fats. Dairy provides a rich dose of calcium, while the generous amounts of cocoa add antioxidants galore.
This recipe can be gluten-free, egg-free, and nut-free.
Preparation time: 30 minutes (plus refrigeration/ freezing)
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
– 1 x 375 ml can evaporated milk
– 1/2 cup cocoa powder
– 4 Tablespoons dextrose, or to taste
– 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder, extra
– 3 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
– dextrose, to taste, extra
– 200 ml cream
– 1/3 teaspoon guar gum
– essence of choice (see note, below)
Method:
1. Mix the evaporated milk, cocoa, and dextrose in a saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring constantly. Transfer to a bowl, cover with clingfilm, and chill.
2. Meanwhile, mix together the extra cocoa, coconut oil, and dextrose. Pour into a small, plastic container, and freeze.
3. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold this into the (fully) cold milk mixture, along with the guar gum and essence (to taste). Chop the solid coconut oil chocolate and fold into the ice cream base.
4. Transfer this mixture into a plastic container. Freeze for at least 6 hours. Let it soften on your counter for 15 minutes before scooping. Enjoy! 🙂
Note: I used a good splash of peppermint essence in my ice cream, because peppermint-chocolate is my jam. However, feel free to use any other alcohol-based essence – this may (very slightly) help the ice cream freeze less solidly.