For those of you who follow my blog and posts, you may already know that I do not own an ice cream maker. The reason? It’s just not necessary to make really delicious homemade ice cream. I have made many different flavors of a rich ice cream called semifreddo without the use of an ice cream machine, and you can too. The simple ingredients and procedures allow anyone to make it at any time without hauling out extra equipment. Some of my favorite semifreddo flavors include rum raisin, toffee and Kahlua ‘n’ cream mocha. If you choose to try any of these recipes, you will see just how easy they are to put together. Regardless of the flavor, the texture remains delicious and creamy.
When I was a kid, I simply loved custard ice cream. This was unlike anything sold in the grocery stores and usually something you found at the fair or in specialty ice cream stores. Semifreddo and gelato are very similar, but custard ice cream was a little different—in addition to being all of the wonderful things that represent a really good semifreddo and gelato, custard ice cream was much thicker and almost dense, but in a good way.
My goal with this recipe was to see if I could create a version that did not require any special ingredients or equipment. As I began to think about how I wanted this recipe to evolve, I decided that if I was going to call it a custard ice cream, then perhaps I should start with a really good custard— and as it turns out, I had the perfect recipe. This delicious recipe can be used either as a pastry cream or a custard, and enjoyed as is or as a filling for cakes or even éclairs. The recipe already has all of the necessary ingredients to get me started, but there was something more that I wanted to add to give it that dense, custard ice cream texture.
I made the custard and allowed it to chill in the refrigerator overnight. I used the same procedure and recipe provided in the link above (and outlined below), but I did make a few adjustments. I used 1 cup of bittersweet dark chocolate and ½ cup of unsweetened chocolate. The next day I made an Italian meringue and folded this into the chilled custard instead of whipped cream. Italian meringue is a cooked meringue where a syrup is cooked to a soft ball stage and then poured into whipped egg whites. I chose to use this type of meringue because it is very stable, and when frozen it is very dense and will result in the exact texture that I was after. Italian Meringue does not freeze completely – it gets very firm but does not freeze as hard as a regular ice cream. I wanted the ice cream to be very chocolatey after the addition of the meringue, so I increased the amount of chocolate by adding an extra ½ cup of unsweetened chocolate. I needed the extra chocolate but not any more sweetness. This is everything you want a custard ice cream to be–creamy, dense and perfectly sweet. Quick, go find a spoon…
Soft Serve Chocolate Custard Ice Cream
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
8 yolks
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup dark bittersweet chocolate
½ cup unsweetened chocolate
Place the bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate pieces in a medium sized bowl. In another medium sized bowl, separate the eggs and place the yolks in the bowl. Reserve 4 whites in a cup and cover with some plastic wrap and refrigerate for later use. Add the sugar, cornstarch and vanilla to the yolks and whisk until well mixed, then set aside. Place the milk and cream (or you can use half and half) in a medium sized pot and heat the mixture until this is scalded but not boiling. Once you see whisps of smoke coming from the surface of the milk/cream, it is ready. Add a little of this to the egg yolk mixture and whisk well to bring the yolks up to the same temperature, then slowly add the rest of the milk/cream until it is all incorporated. Pour all of this back into the pot and put back on a gentle heat, and this time grab your whisk so you can whisk continuously until it has thickened. Once it has thickened, pass this through a sieve and into the bowl with the chocolate. The heat of the custard will melt the chocolate, so using your spatula, stir gently until all of the chocolate has melted. Cover the entire surface of the custard with plastic wrap, and allow it to sit at room temperature until it has cooled completely, then refrigerate. It will look like this the next day, firm and very rich…
Empty the chocolate custard into a larger bowl…
The next day, make your Italian meringue following the instructions on the link. Use the 4 egg whites you reserved from yesterday, which should be approximately ½ cup. Once the meringue has cooled, fold all of it into the custard a little at a time, until you no longer see any streaks of meringue.
The end result will be fluffy and chocolatey. Once you have incorporated all of the meringue, put the ice cream into a 2 piece storage container or cover your bowl well with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Italian Meringue
4 egg whites (½ cup)
6 oz sugar
½ cup water
3 oz corn syrup
When the custard has cooled and you are ready to make your meringue, follow the detailed instructions on how to make the meringue on this link.
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