Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

By HeatherS

Chiles in Chocolate:

Ancho- Dried poblano chiles ad warmth and depth to chocolate without the heat.

Cayenne - These chiles give chocolate a nice bite of heat with just a touch of chile flavor.

Chipotle- Adds lots of heat and a distinct warm, smoky flavor to chocolate

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 cups half-and-half or light cream
• 1 16-ounce can chocolate-flavor syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• l/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups whipping cream

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add sugar and beat until thick.

In a Dutch oven heat half-and-half until almost boiling. Stir 1 cup of the hot half-and-half into the egg mixture; return all to the Dutch oven. Cook and stir about 3 minutes or just until boiling (watch carefully because mixture will foam).

Remove from heat; strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir chocolate-flavor syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and almond extract into strained mixture. Set mixture aside to cool slightly. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.

Stir in whipping cream. Freeze in a 4- to 5-quart ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions. Ripen* about 4 hours before serving.

Tip:
Ripening homemade ice cream improves the texture and helps keep it from melting too quickly during eating. To ripen in a traditional-style ice cream freezer, after churning, remove the lid and dasher and cover the top of the freezer can with waxed paper or foil. Plug the hole in the lid with a small piece of cloth; replace lid. Pack outer freezer bucket with enough ice and rock salt to cover top of freezer can (use 1 cup salt for each 4 cups ice). Ripen about 4 hours. When using an ice cream freezer with an insulated freezer bowl, transfer the ice cream to a covered freezer container and ripen by freezing in your regular freezer about 4 hours (or check the manufacturer's recommendations).

Time:
PREP: 20 minutes
CHILL: up to 24 hours
REEZE: per manufacturer's directions
RIPEN: 4 hours