Mint Chip Ice Cream

When I planted my herb garden this year – I decided to add in chocolate mint with the sole purpose of making real mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I knew that mint tends to take over a garden so I purposefully kept it contained – although it still spread all over the garden.  Well, when I thought I had enough mint to make this ice cream I harvested as much as I could – and realized it was only half of the amount called for in this recipe.  Well, luck must have been on my side since this amount turned out to be perfect and definitely minty enough. 

I loved the taste of real fresh mint in this ice cream – I’ve never tasted anything like this before – you can really taste the earthy-ness of the mint.  It’s really hard to describe – but what I do know is that my (mint loving) husband really approved of this ice cream.   I can’t wait to make this again next year! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups packed (80 gr) fresh mint leaves (I only used a little over 40 grams)
• 5 large egg yolks
• 5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup heavy cream, salt, and mint.

2. Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

3. Remove the mint with a strainer, then press down with a spatula firmly to extract as much mint flavor and color as possible.  Once the flavor is squeezed out, discard the mint.

4. Pour the remaining heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.

5. Rewarm the infused milk.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then slowly pour some of the warm mint mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

6. Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170º F.

7. Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

8. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

9. While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.

10. When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.  When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

Source: David Lebovitz

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