Friends, I have a very sad confession to make. I have had an ice cream maker sitting, unused, in its original box, for one and a half long years. I received it as a gift for Christmas in 2010. I had good intentions of using it immediately. I picked out recipes. I formulated ice cream-making plans. And it never happened.
You see, whenever I followed through on those good intentions, and got all geared up to make ice cream, I’d open the box and realize (for the bazillionth time) that the canister needed to be frozen for at least 8 hours prior to using it. And I’m embarrassed to report that instead of taking it out of the box and sticking in the freezer to avoid the same disappointment the next time around, I just closed it right back up again. It is important to note that there was one other very labor intensive step required…washing the canister. Sometimes I confuse even myself.
Thankfully, I righted all of these wrongs last weekend when I did the smart thing and stuck that dang canister into the freezer, and the next day went out and picked up my ice cream making supplies. And then I got straight to makin’ ice cream!
The combination of mint and chocolate has been one of my favorites for a long time, so I immediately began searching for a mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe. Cool, minty ice cream chock full of dark chocolate chunks. And let me tell you…there is nothing quite like a humongous bowl of cold, minty ice cream on a hot summer evening to help cool a person down. Heat wave is an understatement. Let’s just say there’s been much spread eagle, underwear only, fan blasting directly at the bed insomnia sleeping going on lately. Thank goodness for ice cream.
PS. July is National Ice Cream month! Don’t be surprised if you see another ice cream recipe (or two) posted here in the next few weeks. I’ve spotted a recipe for peanut butter ice cream…trouble!
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (adapted from The Kitchn)
Makes about two quarts.
3 cups fresh mint leaves
4 cups half and half
3/4 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
4 egg yolks
6 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
Tear the mint leaves off of their stems and put in a bowl. Pound with a pestle or large spoon just until they are bruised and start to give off their delicious minty fragrance.
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the half and half, sugar, and salt. Heat until the mixture just begins to steam, the remove from heat, add the mint leaves, and cover. Steep for about two hours. Once the mixture has steeped, strain out the mint leaves and bring the mixture to just under a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks together in a small bowl and add a cup of the cream to temper the eggs. Whisk it all back into the saucepan and cook, stirring, until the custard reaches 170º to 174ºF (this only took a couple of minutes for me). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
We’re ready to make ice cream! First, chop the chocolate into chunks and set aside. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to directions, adding the chocolate about halfway through. Transfer ice cream to a container and cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap is touching the surface of the ice cream (this will prevent ice crystals from forming). Freeze for at least four hours before serving. Enjoy!
I don’t just like, I love….
Oh me too…. *drools*
Oooh I LOVE how you put the ice cream in a loaf pan (I think that’s what it is…)- what a beautiful way to serve the ice cream, I’ll have to try that.
Yep, it’s a loaf pan! I love the rustic look it gives. Thanks Clara!
definitely need to get one for decorating food now. thanks for the inspiration :]
Brilliant 🙂 I LOVE my ice cream maker…. though my primary use for it is frozen yogurt…. I just put any store-bought yogurt in it with some fresh fruit and turn it until its frozen…. so simple! I’ll have to try this one soon 🙂 Fresh mint in mint ice cream sounds AMAZING!
I DO love mint choc chip ice cream. Also, putting ice cream in a loaf tin is SUCH a good way of serving it. It’s long enough to be able to scoop easily… plus it looks good. I wish the weather were nice enough here to justify my buying an ice cream machine…
Thanks buddy! The loaf pan also gets too cold to hold, making it impossible to eat straight from the pan and thus forcing me to scoop out an appropriate serving. 😉
Peanut butter ice cream would have to be banned from my house, because if it came in, it would have ZERO chance of survival. This looks so darn good!
-Michelle @gloriouseats.com
Wonderful! And so creative!
What does mint choc chip taste like with fresh mint? Sounds amaazing!
Umm…it tastes…amazing! The mint flavor really has a chance to shine. I prefer it over using mint extract.
Looks divine. One of my favorite ice cream flavors and I get to use my homegrown mint. 😀
Well then this recipe is a match made in heaven for you! Enjoy! 😉
Wow! This ice cream looks awesome. And those photos are insanely good! Did you get a new camera or something?!
Thanks girl! Nope, same camera! Perhaps I’m just finally learning how to use it! 😉
Like this recipe uses half and half. So many recipes call for heavy whipping cream, which is more expensive than half and half. Thanks.
Ok, motivated to get my ice cream maker out of its box! The fresh mint and chocolate look soooo good!
Do it girl! You won’t regret it!
I had to laugh when I read your post because I’m the same – love to go shopping for new kitchen gadgets, but HATE having to wash them before using them. I have no idea why I dread this so much – I wash dishes every day! 🙂 Your photos look beautiful.
What is it about washing new gadgets that is so difficult?! Glad to hear that someone else has that wonky trait! 😉
Thank you friend.
Mint chocolate chip is one my my husbands fav flavors, must try this soon. 🙂
Oooh – I just FORCED my mum to reclaim her ice cream maker back off her friend so I could have a go at making some and stop spending SO much money on it. Currently its sitting unopened in our utlility room and has been for 3 weeks. Great minds eh? Also though – I just rediscovered mint choc chip ice cream. Totally retro but isnt it the best!? Im going to need to give this recipe a try!! ps – can you have ice cream for breakfast in a heatwave?
Totally THE best. And yes, I believe it’s pretty much mandatory to eat ice cream for breakfast in a heat wave. You know, for health reasons. Like, avoiding heat stroke.
HI, Amanda!
Great to find yet another local Edmonton food blogger! Found your message on Sharon’s site. Love your site – and see you are into ice cream, too! I have made 8 kinds this summer, I think… tarragon, vanilla, salted caramel, pistachio, rhubarb, Lavender, Saskatoon and Evan’s Cherry – last 2 not yet posted… many for my daughter’s wedding brunch. Love your photos. Pink is pretty, too.
Have you seen that some of us are going to start making artisan cheese August 1. If you are interested, Check out Cheesepalooza information. We would LOVE to have you join us!
🙂
Valerie
Thanks Valerie! I must check out some of your ice cream recipes, they sound amazing! Gotta make hay (I mean, ice cream) while the sun shines, right? 😉 Making cheese would be a great challenge, and fun too! I’ll think about joining you!
I haven’t used my ice cream maker since this spring, it’s high time to bust it out again! I made a fresh mint ice cream last summer, and your mint chocolate chip ice cream has me wanting more!
Glad you are thinking about joining us, meanwhile, I am thinking about making a mint ice cream with all of my mint in my garden, but we can never have enough mint – as Vanja loves the mint ice tea I make, too. Ohhh, such trials! Ice cream or ice tea? Is there really a choice?
🙂
V
Just made some mint chocolate chip this weekend from a book from a local place. Now I feel like I cheated because I used extract :).
Oh no, sounds like you’ll just have to make another batch with the real thing. There are worse problems to have. 😉
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