Chocolate Ice Cream for a Rival Ice Cream Maker
A cooked chocolate custard scaled to three quarts, which is the three quarters fill a 4-quart Rival can needs in order to stall the motor and finish. Cornstarch stands in for the all-purpose flour the old booklet used.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Base
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder Dutch-process if you have it
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch or 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, the way the old booklet does it
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 cups whole milk
- 4 large eggs beaten in a small bowl
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped small so it melts in the residual heat
- 4 cups heavy cream cold, stirred in just before churning
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Bucket
- 17 pounds crushed ice covers churning and hardening on a 4-quart machine
- 5 cups rock salt 3 cups to churn and 2 more to harden
Instructions
Cook the Custard
- First, whisk the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt together in a large saucepan while everything is still dry, then pour in the milk gradually so no floury pockets survive.
- Next, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 15 minutes, until the mixture thickens and just begins to bubble at the edges.
- Then stir roughly a cup of the hot mixture into the beaten eggs, pour that back into the pan, and cook one minute more. Take it off the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until it disappears.
Chill and Churn
- After that, chill the base until it is properly cold, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight, then stir in the cold cream and the vanilla.
- Pour the base into the ice cream can until it is three quarters full and no further, since it expands as it freezes. Fit the dasher, then the cover, and lower the can into the bucket.
- Lock on the motor drive, stand the whole machine in the sink, plug it in, and build up 2-inch layers of crushed ice with about a quarter cup of rock salt scattered over each one until the brine reaches the top of the turning can. Leave it 25 to 40 minutes, until the motor labors and stops.
Harden and Serve
- Wipe every grain of salt off the top of the can before you lift the cover, because one teaspoon of brine tipping in ruins the batch. The ice cream should look like soft serve at this point, which is correct.
- Finally, pack it down, replace the cover with the rubber cork in the hole, drain the brine, rebuild ice and the remaining 2 cups of salt over the whole can, and wrap the bucket in a folded towel for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
Notes
Fill level: the can must be three quarters full or the dasher has nothing to push against and the motor may never stall. Do not halve this recipe for a 4-quart machine.
Ice and salt: 3 cups rock salt and 17 pounds of crushed ice for a 4-quart machine, 4 cups and 25 pounds for a 6-quart. Layer them, and keep topping both up as the ice melts.
Hardening: pack the can down, cork the cover, drain the brine, rebuild ice and 2 more cups of salt over the whole can, and wrap the bucket in a towel for 2 to 3 hours. A home freezer works too.
Make-ahead: the base keeps 3 days in the refrigerator before churning, which is the easiest way to split the work.
Storage: 3 to 4 weeks at best quality, in shallow tubs with wrap pressed onto the surface.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1half-cup scoop | Calories: 295kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g