If you ask anyone in my family what my favorite flavor is – this will be their answer.
I was that kid that no matter what other flavors, no matter where we were, I would never get anything else other than good ol’ mint chocolate chip. I’m glad my palate has expanded since then but this ice cream holds a special place in my ice cream heart.
Instead of chocolate chips this time, I wanted it to taste as close to the Etys mint chocolate chip ice cream you can buy at the store. They have such a creamy base with these flakes of chocolate that kinda snap in your mouth when you’re eating it and then sort of melt right away because they’re so small versus chunks of chocolate chips – and i looooove it.
We actually were extremely successful with that by streaming our magic chocolate shell recipe into the base at the last minutes of churning. The trick to get those perfect specs is to make sure you’re adding that chocolate while you’re machine is still going. The chocolate freezes as soon as it hits the ice cream but the machine churning acts like a built in grinder and breaks that stream of chocolate into perfect little specs of goodness.
This was SO good, I literally had one spoonful and immediately thought “no way in hell am I sharing this” and texted my work family letting them know the bad news.
My boss responded with “I will not be liking this week’s blog post.”
On the insta-story this week, I talked about fresh mint vs. mint extract/oils leaving it up to you to decide what flavor profiles you wanted to roll with.
Fresh mint gives you a very earthly complex flavor vs the mint extract that gives you more of the light, sweet, minty flavor you’d imagine.
Personally, I’m not a fan of using fresh mint in this case but if you’re into earthy ice cream with a hint of dirt and leaf in there- go crazy.
Fresh mint does server a great purpose but I find it’s best for more of a savory, funky recipe because it doesn’t have the same flare of sweetness the extract provides.
Up to you – do whatever makes your little ice cream heart happy.
BIG shout out to you guys for sending me lots of awesome ideas this week!!
KEEP EM COMIN.
I absolutely LOVE hearing your ideas and feedback on all this so don’t be shy – I don’t bite … most of the time..okay maybe sometimes…but only if you’re into it.
Recipe adapted/tweaked from The Perfect Scoop
YOU’LL NEED:
1 cup whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons coconut oil
TO MAKE IT:
1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.
2. Set a strainer over the top of a small bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks then gradually pour some of the warm milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.
4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla and peppermint extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.
6. Heat the chocolate and coconut oil until melted.
7. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions
8. Once almost completely churned, stream in the melted chocolate and churn for 2 more minutes or until chocolate is completely incorporated.
9. Freeze overnight and indulge the next day
