Rocky Road Ice Cream, or The End of the Line

Hi guys, quick post today. I wasn’t originally planning on sharing this latest ice cream concoction, but goddamn it’s good! I snapped a couple shots so I could spread the word.

I actually made this flavor to appease the other member of this household. He’s been so patient this entire summer, uncomplainingly putting up with a whole queue of “weird” flavors I wanted to make first like pistachio, and Earl Grey. And while he forced them down, he’s a chocolate man through and through.

…I’m also catching on that it’s pretty dangerous for a girl to have whole quarts of ice cream sitting in the fridge to herself.

Anyway, I am officially a culinary genius in the eyes of my fiance. And all it took was some rocky road ice cream. It may be rich, but it’s creamy and wonderful and scoops like a dream. Seriously, I can hardly believe I made it! It should be sitting in the freezer of one of the ice cream shops down the street. Not surprisingly, the chocolate ice cream base is a David Lebovitz creation, so you’re pretty much guaranteed that it’s fail-proof. Just keep stirring.

ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM
Recipe from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, via Brown Eyed Baker
Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used regular)
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:
Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, overnight if possible, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.) In the last five minutes of churning, add the marshmallows and almonds. Or, fold them in when transferring to a container. Freeze the ice cream until it’s at a consistency you like.