Bagpipes at the top of Half Dome

Whens the next performance!

Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream

We made this Ice Cream for the fourth and it turned out (or churned out) exceptionally well. This recipe makes a large, family sized batch, so, unless you have a big enough ice cream maker, you might cut it down a bit. Or, if you’re having a party, make a couple batches!

We have had problems, and maybe you have too, with the ice cream freezing too hard. This recipe with this preparation froze to a really nice consistency. There is some left over in the freezer right now and it’s still quite soft.

I used almost a half pound of Trader Joe’s 72% dark chocolate. It was awesome, especially if you like chocolate. Some thought it wasn’t sweet enough and that there was too much. And then some, myself included, thought it was just right. If you're using a chunk of chocolate like I did, slice / shave it, then chop it up a bit. You should know when it is chopped to the right size...just feel it. (: After you have shaved and chopped the chocolate, you'll notice that there is a powder that as accumulated. I think it is best to sift that out...you just want chunks in the ice cream; you don't want that powder to turn it in any way brown. It was super easy to sift it out just using an ordinary plastic strainer (a sieve would probably work too).

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Makes 6 quarts

4 cups (2 pints) whipping cream
1 qt half and half
6 cups whole milk

17 egg yolks
28 oz sugar

3 tsp peppermint extract (flavorganics is what we used)
6 to 8 oz chopped dark chocolate
12 drops of green

Heat the milk ingredients to a low simmer. Meanwhile, separate the egg yolks into a medium to large sized bowl. Wisk the yokes until they have lightened in color and about doubled in volume. Add the sugar slowly to the yolks.

Scoop out some of the milk (a quarter to a third) and slowly pour it into the yolks to temper them. Be sure to be whisking the yolks while pouring the hot milk into them, it works best with two people. Now stir the tempered mixture into the rest of the hot milk. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 170° to 175°. Turn of heat and pour into a refrigerator proof bowl with a lid. Chill the mixture for 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Churn the ice cream in your maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions and blah blah blah. Now you can either add the extract, chocolate and green in a little before the ice cream is done churning and let the ice cream maker do the work or you can stir it in yourself. We had to stir it in because we didn’t get it in the maker soon enough. And when our ice cream maker stops, it stops.

Transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze it for at least 4 hours before serving.

Life’s short. Enjoy eating ice cream. And by the way, happy Independence Day!!

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