being the lucky guy that i am, kris and odin got me an ice cream maker for our kitchen aid mixer for my birthday so, naturally, i set out in search of the perfect recipe for first batch.

i knew i wanted something that really played to the home field advantage of being able to use eggs laid fresh in the morning by The Girls and i didn’t have to look very far since the recipe booklet for the ice cream maker had a wonderful-sounding recipe for triple chocolate ice cream that called for eight egg yolks!

anything with 3 kinds of chocolate, heavy whipping cream, half and half and eight egg yolks has to be super tasty, right? it’s like that old joke about pizza, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.

and remember, if you’re going to make ice cream, why not use the very best ingredients like *cough* shameless plug *cough* organic valley heavy whipping cream and half & half 🙂

( note: don’t miss the 2 cooling steps! i did which extended the whole process to three days given my schedule. you can certainly make the ice cream in one day if you plan ahead. )

triple chocolate ice cream

ingredients
2 cups organic valley heavy whipping cream
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) semisweet baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 cups organic valley half & half
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 egg yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 bars ( 1.55 oz, 46 g each ) milk chocolate, chopped ( about 1 1/2 cups )

in a small saucepan, place 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. heat over medium-low heat until chocolate melts, stirring frequently. remove from heat; set aside. in medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half & half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. remove from heat; set aside.

in small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder. set aside. place egg yolks in mixer bowl. attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. turn to speed 2 and gradually add sugar mixture; mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened. continuing on speed 2, very gradually add chocolate mixture and half & half; mix until well blended.

return half & half mixture to medium saucepan; stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy. do not boil. transfer half & half mixture into large bowl; stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, vanilla and salt. cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

put ice cream “freeze bowl” and mixing attachments in place and turn on speed 1. pour chilled mixture into freeze bowl.

continue on speed 1 for 10-15 minutes or until desired consistency, adding milk chocolate during last 1 to 2 minutes of freeze time. immediately transfer ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours.

yield: 16 1/2 cup servings.

so, how does it taste? if you’re into chocolate and creamy, rich goodness, then really, really, really good. it rides right up to the line of over-the-top richness and stops just short.

in a blind taste test, odin said he preferred my triple chocolate homemade ice cream to the leading organic store brand ( store brand is in the bowl on the right, recipe results are in the spoon about to be consumed )! and both he and his mother said it was THE BEST ICE CREAM THEY’VE EVER HAD!!!!. and i sampled the ice cream at lunch at work to a pretty discerning group of ice cream fanatics to rave reviews.

all-in-all, i’d rate this recipe a knock-it-out-of-the-park homerun. two big thumbs up.