Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate and Morello Cherries

This decadent vanilla egg custard serving as the base for this delicious ice cream was the one we learned during phase one of culinary school. The recipe uses an equal blend of milk and cream, and the high volume of egg yolks provides its richness and creaminess, setting it leagues apart from anything purchased in a carton from the grocery store. I haven't met one person who has tried this ice cream (my personal favorite!) who hasn't said it's one of the best they've ever had. The dark chocolate adds a delicious, bittersweet bite while the morello cherries swirled throughout bring a beautiful pop of color, along with a sweet and tart burst of flavor.

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cups Whole Milk
• 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 10 Large Egg Yolks
• 1-¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
• 4 oz. Chopped, Good Quality Dark Chocolate such as Ghirardelli
• ¼ Cup Tart Morello Cherry Preserves
• Ice to set up the ice bath

INSTRUCTIONS

Note: If you are using an ice cream maker that requires the canister to be fully frozen prior to use, make sure to put it in your freezer at least 48 hours beforehand. The ice cream maker I use here at home, noted below, does not require pre-freezing. Its fully automatic and has a commercial-quality compressor built in, which allows you to make batch after batch. If you enjoy making homemade ice cream, it's definitely worth the investment!

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Step 1: Gather all of your ingredients.

Step 2: In a large, non-stick pot, heat milk and heavy whipping cream, careful to bring just to a simmer and not to a boil. The mixture should steam lightly, and you'll see small bubbles forming along the rim of the liquid.

Step 3: Meanwhile, separate egg yolks from whites. (Save your egg whites for a different dish, either an omelet, angel food cake or meringues!)

Step 4: In a large, heat-proof bowl, whisk yolks with sugar thoroughly. Once the sugar has fully dissolved into the egg yolks, the mixture will be pale yellow in color. Set aside.

Step 4: Once your milk and cream mixture is hot, but not boiling, it's time to temper the eggs. This will heat the eggs slowly, bringing them up to the same temperature as the milk and cream, but ensuring you are not making scrambled eggs.

VERY SLOWLY drizzle small amounts of the hot liquid into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, before adding additional liquid. As you repeat this step, little by little, feel the side of the bowl. It should begin to feel warm to the touch. If not, continue adding small increments of the hot milk and cream liquid. There should be no curdling.

Step 5: Once warm, combine the egg yolk and sugar mixture by pouring the bowl directly into the pot with the remaining milk and cream mixture; continue whisking. This egg custard becomes what is referred to as an ice cream base.

Step 6: Adjust the temperature to medium and swap your whisk for a rubber spatula. Continue cooking and stirring frequently. Avoid letting your custard base boil. The consistent stirring will help ‘cool’ the mixture as it cooks and incorporates air. Be mindful to scrape the sides and the bottom of the pot with each pass.

Step 7: Cooking times will vary, but you are looking for a thickened custard, but not thick like pudding. As the mixture thickens, switch to using a wooden spoon. You should be able to draw your finger across the back of the spoon and see a visible line that does not run.

This is a crucial step- not cooking your base long enough runs the risk of an ice cream that may not fully set.

Don't worry if your custard is a little grainy or has small curdles of egg in the mixture. This is why we take the extra step of straining it through a fine metal sieve.

Step 8: Once your custard has finished cooking, turn off the heat. Set up a strainer over a heat-proof bowl with at least a 2-Quart capacity, and a cooling station. You’ll need a large bowl filled with ice and water, large enough to nestle (but not submerge) the smaller bowl.

Step 9: Place your strainer over the smaller bowl you’ll be nestling into your ice bath. Pour your custard through the strainer, capturing the strained ice cream base, stirring with your rubber spatula to ensure all the smooth liquid goes through.

Step 10: Place the bowl with the ice cream base into the ice bath. Add a little water if you need to, which may help keep the bowl balanced. You can now whisk the ice cream base to expedite the cooling process.

Step 11: Add in the vanilla extract. Waiting to add the extract after the base has cooled slightly ensures that the alcohol does not burn off during the cooking process, which affects not only the flavor of the final product but also keeps the ice cream from freezing solid.

Step 12: Once the ice cream base has cooled to at least room temperature, it must be refrigerated to set for at least 6 hours, but ideally overnight. The colder your base, the faster it will freeze and the better consistency you’ll have with your final ice cream. Move your mixture into a bowl with a tight-fitting lid and put it in the refrigerator.

Step 13: Prepare your chocolate by first breaking apart the squares, placing them onto the cutting board and rocking your Chef's knife back and forth until you have small pieces. The pieces do not have to be uniform in size, however, you don't want any pieces that are too large.

Step 14: Take an extra few seconds to sift the chopped chocolate to remove the chocolate 'dust' shavings that you don't need to be mixed into your ice cream. Save these, however, for another use! Store the chopped chocolate until you are ready to assemble your ice cream.

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Step 14: Whether the next day or several hours later, after your ice cream base has fully set, remove the bowl from refrigeration and give it a good stir using a rubber spatula. The mixture should now be much thicker, yet still pourable.

Step 15: Remove your ice cream freezer canister when you are ready to begin churning, and not beforehand. Following your ice cream maker’s directions, pour the ice cream base into the maker’s canister. This custard recipe yields approximately 1 quart of ice cream base but freezing will expand the finished ice cream to 1.5 quarts. Most ice cream makers take approximately 40-60 minutes to go through a full churn process but may take less time depending on the temperature and thickness of your ice cream base.

As noted above, I'm a huge fan of the Cuisinart ICE-100 1.5-Quart Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, Fully Automatic with a Commercial Quality Compressor, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys making homemade ice cream, gelato or sorbet regularly. There's no need to freeze the canister, the machine works simply by plugging it in and can make batch after batch.

Don't rely exclusively on the timer. Typically, once the machine starts to slow, it's because it's almost done. Keep a close eye on it at this stage. Once it starts to struggle a little, it's as frozen as it can get during the churning process, signaling that your ice cream is done, and it's time to turn off the machine.

Make sure to have your container, your prepared chocolate and your morello cherry preserves ready to go, so that you can work quickly once your ice cream is done and ready.

Step 16: Once the ice cream has gone through the full churning cycle, it will be the consistency of soft serve and will need to be put into the freezer quickly to set before it melts. Work quickly. Spoon your ice cream into your freezer-safe container, swirling in the chocolate and small amounts of the preserves throughout the layers.

Your delicious, homemade vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate and morello cherries will be fully frozen and ready to enjoy in about 4 hours.

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