I’m really excited and thankful for the opportunity to be celebrating National Ice Cream Month (!!!) here on Gidget Goes Home. The California Milk Advisory Board chose me to blog about the fun family ritual of making homemade ice cream. My loyal readers all know how much I love homemade ice cream!
I’ve been searching for a while and I finally came across a good, simple chocolate ice cream recipe!! It came out delicious and I was able to get the whole fam in on the process.
Have you seen those cute commercials over the years about California cows being the happy cows? I believe it! Let me start by telling you a few things I like about Real California Milk…
- 99% of California Dairies are family owned
- the California dairy industry is providing much-needed jobs for the state and leads the nation in milk productions!
- I especially love the push for sustainability among California dairy farmers (one farmer in video on the sustainability page mentions that by converting extra manure into methane, they soon will be able to make enough energy to meet 60-70% of their own electricity needs!)
- I love seeing the “Real California Milk” stamp, and knowing that I’m supporting my local economy!
So let’s get to the tasty stuff. I can’t wait to have a bowl of this ice cream tonight with my hubby, but first I’ll show you how we made it.
I recommend you find someone cute to help you with this recipe.
And let’s get the whole family involved, why don’t we?
Chocolate Ice Cream
(adapted from The Kitchn)
3 1/2 cups half and half (or equal parts whole milk and whipping cream)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup sugar (I use evaporated cane juice sugar)
pinch of salt
These are the magic ingredients. More on the developer of this ice cream-making method in a future post.
Tasty evaporated cane juice is my sugar of choice.
Yummmmm, I just love whole milk.
Here we go. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the half and half with the cornstarch.
In a large saucepan, combine the remaining half and half with the sugar. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
Meanwhile, set up an ice bath in a large bowl.
Pour just enough of the hot milk over the chopped chocolate and and cream cheese to cover it. Stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is thick and silky. Add the salt. Gradually add the remaining hot milk mixture.
Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cooled off, about 20 minutes.
Pour ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze an additional two hours (or more) in an airtight container. Will keep (with best flavor) for about a week if sealed properly.
Well, that was fun. And now I’m off to eat some of my creation. I hope you and your family will go make a batch of this goodness and celebrate what in my opinion is a great month! You can bet there’s more ice cream to come in July in my neck o’ the woods.
If you’re a Californian, make sure you visit this page which shows you where you can by Real California Milk products in California. There are also a few different coupons available on the page (and at the bottom of the website) as well!!
Disclosure: I wrote this article while participating in a blog campaign by the California Milk Advisory Board, who paid me a fee to participate. All opinions expressed are my own.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I love chocolate chocolate chip. Yum! This is such a great family idea! I love CA milk. I had no idea about their sustainability plan. Makes me want to head to Sprouts to grab some.
Ps- your babes are just too cute!
That sounds sooo delicious! YUM!
I am going to try this for sure!!
I love homemade ice cream, but never enjoyed all the work to crank & wait… So after 30 plus years of marriage we finally purchased an electric one. Wow, these babies work fast and our ice cream turns out wonderful. At this time in our life we are on a no sugar eating plan, so our recipe doesn’t include quite the same ingreds. We substitute our sugar for maltitol. We also use Almond Breeze and half & half, add a little vanilla and there you have it. Yum!
Never heard of malititol…. I do have a sugar-less recipe with honey if you scroll down a few posts.
And yes, electric is fab! Mine connects to my Kitchen-Aid mixer and I love it.
Hey Nicole, very cool site, of course, because you are so creative!
Our church just did a sermon on adoption yesterday. It was awesome. If you get a chance watch the video at http://www.onthejourney.tv. I bet you will enjoy it!
You are amazing!!!
Looks like a yummy recipe and I love that the whole family helped. Very cute!
Oh, my. YUM! Thanks for sharing this!
Yummy!!!! As one of my sweet friends would say, “3 fist pumps, 2 leg kicks, and a shimmy” for your homemade goodness!! Love those California cows!! Xoxoxo
Thanks for the ice cream inspiration and the info on California milk. Can’t wait to try out your recipe!
Thanks Nicole! I was looking for a good ice cream recipe to try out. And I can get all the ingredients here! Thanks for the post!
Love ice cream! Love chocolate! Love California! Love fun summer memories with the family!
No fair posting a chocolate ice cream recipe. I was here today to make your blueberry honey ice cream and now I don’t know which to make. I guess we will be making two kinds of ice cream. Thanks for the wonderful recipes. We wil be changing the blueberry one to be made with kefir and cream. Hopefully it will turn out.
Blessings, Elizabeth
Looks so yummy we are going to try this one!
Thanks for the recipe! Looks so delicious and perfect for summer!
I absolutely miss making ice cream with the whole fam. I guess it’s time for me to pick up where Granny left off and start again with my fam. Thanks for sharing…now, time to make the Ice Cream!!!…And, I am going to try California Milk as well!
I love your blog posts Nicole! Thanks!
Hi,
Easter Greetings to you and your family. We tried your Chocolate Ice-Cream as an Easter treat. Eventhough, we do not get California Milk in our country, the Ice Cream turned out soft and delicious. I used a local brand full fat milk and hung curd as a substitute for cream cheese. Can you tell me what half and half stand for? Is it a measurement for milk or a brand name? Already looking forward to try out your other recipes. Great site!!
Regards
Hi Neel, Half and half a product sold here that is a mix of milk and cream. You could easily substitute half milk and half cream for it. Where do you live?
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