Real Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream can be so great, or so disappointing. Bright green dye, chemical mint flavoring, and cheap chocolate can ruin this ice cream’s reputation. Luckily, my recipe uses fresh mint for a nice background flavor, pure mint extract for a kick, and high quality dark chocolate as a compliment. The perfect cooling ice cream flavor for these hot New York summer days.

Real Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

250ml Milk

250ml Cream

120g Sugar

2 Pinches of salt

1 Vanilla bean

1C Fresh mint, roughly chopped

6 Egg yolks

1t Pure mint extract

50g Dark chocolate, chopped (I used organic 70% dark chocolate)

In a small pot, add the milk, cream, half of the sugar, and salt. Using a small paring, cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the insides, Place the bean and seeds in the pot with the liquid. Add the fresh mint, and warm gently on medium heat, stirring in the sugar to dissolve until the mixture is just scalded. In the meantime, in a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar until well combined and lightened in color. When the milk mixture is scalded, remove it from the heat and ladle a little over the yolk while whisking. Add more liquid in stages until it is all combined. Then, pour the mixture back into the pot and using a rubber spatula, heat the mixture to 85C, at which point the mixture with thicken and become a crème anglaise. Be sure to continuously mix during this time, so nothing burns to the bottom of the pot. Once you have made your crème anglaise, remove the pot from the heat and strain it into a bowl, removing the vanilla bean and mint. Chill over an ice bath to reduce the temperature. Once completely cooled, add the mint extract. This will give your mint ice cream a little extra kick. Pour the mint crème anglaise into ice cream maker and churn 25 minutes before adding the chopped chocolate. Churn an additional few minutes to incorporate the chocolate. Once churned, place your ice cream into the freezer to harden. Enjoy!