Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate and Morello Cherry

Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate and Morello Cherry

One taste of this creamy, vanilla ice cream with rich, dark chocolate and swirls of morello cherry jam will give you every reason to make your own homemade ice cream.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: Ice Cream

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 30

Refrigeration Time: 8

Servings: Servings

Calories: 284kcal

Equipment

Ice Cream Maker (1.5-Quart minimum capacity)
Heavy-bottomed, non-stick Pot
Whisk
Rubber Spatula
Wooden Spoon
Large, Heat-Proof Bowl (For ice bath)
Medium, Heat-Proof Bowl (2 Quart capacity, for ice cream base)
Fine-Mesh Metal Strainer
Cutting Board
Chef's Knife
Small glass bowls for ice cream mix-ins
Plastic Wrap
Ice Cream Container

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: Make sure to freeze your ice cream canister for at least 48 hours prior to making ice cream.
Gather all of your ingredients.
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.
Meanwhile, separate egg yolks from whites. (Save your egg whites for a different dish, either an omelet, angel food cake or meringues!)
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.
Once your milk and cream mixture is hot, but not boiling, it's time to temper the egg mixture. 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.
Once warm, combine the egg yolk and sugar mixture by pouring the bowl directly into the 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.
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.
Cooking times will vary, but you are looking for a thickened custard, but not thick like pudding. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Notes

Homemade ice cream does not have any of the same additives that
store-bought ice cream has, so it will be very hard straight from the freezer. Allow it
to sit at room temperature for just a few minutes to soften to a scoopable
consistency and return unused portion to the freezer.

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