Mint Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream

I feel a little weird writing a post about mint chocolate ice cream due to the fact that I cannot stand the stuff. This isn’t a weird once a month aversion, this is an every day any time get that crap away from me before you regret it.

I know… I must be the only person on the earth that doesn’t enjoy mint and chocolate together. Wait a minute, I do like Andes chocolates but after dishing out money for dinner at Olive Garden, you bet I’m going to eat the “complimentary” treat.

Regardless of my own tastes, my husband adores this stuff. Ew. So of course for his birthday last Saturday I wanted to make it for him. I used David Lebovitz’ recipe but like always, I changed the milk and cream ratio to 2 to 1 rather than 1 to 2. I find it makes the ice cream more silky, not as heavy but still rich and creamy. To clarify, by heavy I mean sticking to the spoon heavy. I notice when I use more cream than milk, it leaves a sticky film on the spoon and I just don’t like it. Weird? Maybe.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Rather than using any mint extract, this recipe uses the real deal; mint leaves. However, because of this fact it tastes like the plant to Philip and me but not to others who tried it. Maybe it’s just because we’ve spent many afternoons at a local nursery smelling the difference between mint, apple mint, chocolate mint and peppermint. Weird? Probably maybe.

homemade mint chocolate ice cream
It was very enjoyable. Not by me, of course… but I did have a taste and it was bearable.
Of course my favorite part was the melted bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate marbled in there. Without that, I wouldn’t have touched the stuff.

Mint Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz

2 cups whole milk
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate and 2 ounces semisweet)

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, mint leaves, sugar and a pinch of salt. Heat over medium high heat until steaming then remove from heat, cover and let steep for 1 hour.

Strain the mint leaves using a fine mesh strainer placed over a medium mixing bowl. Press down on the mint leaves using the back of a spoon or spatula to extract as much flavor as possible.

Return the mint flavored milk to the sauce pan and rewarm over medium high heat. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour warm milk into yolks.

Transfer custard back to saucepan and heat over medium heat until thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in heavy cream. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours then process in ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions.

While ice cream is churning, place a storage container in the freezer and melt chopped chocolate in double broiler or microwave. (Alternatively, you can melt it in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.)

Once ice cream is done churning, remove container from freezer. Drizzle melted chocolate on the bottom then layer it with ice cream, followed by more chocolate drizzle. Swirl the layers together, breaking up hardened chocolate as you go. Repeat with the remaining chocolate and ice cream then place in the freeze to completely harden.

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3 Comments

  1. I have been on an ice cream kick lately! I think I'll need to try this one!

  2. Let me know what you think!

  3. Jay says: Reply

    This ice cream looks amazing. I have an ice cream maker at home and we use it all of the time. I am really excited to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing.

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