One weekend this past year, I came home from college and my mom had bought me an ice cream machine. Not just a cheap As-Seen-On-TV one, but a new Cuisinart ice cream machine. If you knew me or my mom, this wouldn't be surprising.
After weeks of wanting to try it out, I finally decided to make the simple chocolate ice cream. The machine came with a set of instructions and a variety of recipes, for both ice cream and gelato. Once I decided the type of ice cream I wanted to make, I headed to the grocery store to get all the ingredients.
THE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup unsweetened cocoa power
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup whole milk
3 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Full disclosure, I did accidentally get Half & Half instead of heavy cream, which may have affected the final result. Once I had what I thought were all the ingredients, I began following the recipe, step-by-step.
#SpoonTip: Make sure to read all the instructions ahead of time. I didn't and failed to see that you had to put the freezer bowl in the freezer for 6 to 22 hours before beginning the recipe, which did derail this whole process by a day.
STEP 1: MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS
I began by adding the granulated sugar, brown sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dark Chocolate) to a mixing bowl and mixed all the dry ingredients with a spoon.
STEP 2: MIX IN THE WET INGREDIENTS
After all the dry ingredients were thoroughly mixed, I gradually added the milk and slowly mixed all the ingredients for about 2 minutes with an electric mixer. After the sugars look dissolved with the cocoa, I added the Half & Half and vanilla into the bowl and mixed to a smooth consistency.
STEP 3: THE MACHINE
After all the ingredients were perfectly mixed, I poured the mix into the freezer bowl of the ice cream machine and let the machine churn the mix for about 30 minutes, tasting it along the way.
STEP 4: TASTE TESTING
Now, it was time to try the ice cream. After eating several spoonfuls of the ice cream, I was not disappointed. While I wouldn't say it was the exact consistency of ice cream, it tasted delicious, almost similar to the taste of chocolate mousse. The instructions did recommend putting the ice cream in the freezer for the best results and after a night in the freezer, the ice cream was a much thicker and creamier consistency.
While I made plenty of mistakes along the way, I would say that overall the ice cream machine did a great job of making homemade ice cream. After several trial-and-errors, I found that of course, using heavy cream instead of Half-and-Half created a better taste and consistency, and cooking the cocoa powder on the stove before hand made the ice cream taste a little less grainy. I would say the ice cream machine was a success and I will definitely continue to test out all the different recipes