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Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Homemade chocolate ice cream made as a thick chocolate custard—deep, fudgy, and churned for a dense, velvety scoop. Dark chocolate and cocoa create an intensely dark color with rich cocoa depth in every spoonful.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 410
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chocolate custard base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.5 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 oz dark chocolate
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 ice cream maker
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 fine mesh sieve

Method
 

Make the chocolate mixture
  1. Whisk the cocoa powder with 1/4 cup of the sugar, then whisk in the heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan until smooth.
  2. Heat the mixture over medium, whisking constantly, until it is steaming.
  3. Add the finely chopped dark chocolate and whisk until fully melted and smooth.
Temper and cook the custard
  1. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until pale and slightly thick.
  2. Slowly whisk the hot chocolate cream into the yolks to temper the eggs.
  3. Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the back of a spoon at 175F.
Chill, churn, and freeze
  1. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, then stir in the vanilla extract and salt.
  2. Cool the custard completely over an ice bath until room temperature.
  3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight until very cold.
  4. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker until thick and soft-serve consistency.
  5. Freeze the churned ice cream until firm enough to scoop.

Notes

For the silkiest texture, keep the custard moving while cooking and stop as soon as it reaches 175F (it thickens quickly). Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days; freeze up to 2 months—scoop and let sit 3–5 minutes before serving. For a lighter option, use low-fat milk and substitute 1% milk for part of the dairy (texture will be a bit softer).