Dark Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream

And so there are strawberries. And the strawberries have strawberries. There are many gallon bags filled with strawberries in our freezer.

How many smoothies can you make?

I cam across this fabulous ice cream recipe on Love & Olive Oil and knew this had to be added to my ice cream insanity.

Really creamy ice cream, chunks of strawberries and CHOCOLATE!

• C (8 ounces) fresh strawberries, hulled
• 3/4 C granulated sugar, divided
• 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 C heavy cream, divided
• 1 C whole milk
• 1/4 C cocoa powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 egg yolks

Chop strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar in a blender or food processor until coarsely chopped. You still want some strawberry chunks in the final ice cream, so don’t liquefy it. Just a few pulses should do it. Set aside.

Place finely chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat 1 cup of heavy cream in a saucepan until it just starts to bubble. Pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Pour back into saucepan along with milk, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and mixture just starts to steam.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly ladle in some of the warm chocolate mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, until about half of the chocolate mixture has been incorporated and yolks are warm to the touch. You want to do this gradually; doing so will temper the egg yolks rather than cook them.

Pour entire yolk mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan as you do, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes (it will measure approximately 170ºF on a thermometer). Do not let it to boil. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 cup cream and chopped strawberry mixture.

Pour into a zip-top freezer bag and seal. Place in a bowl filled with ice water, and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Alternatively you can use a traditional ice water bath, with a smaller bowl nested inside a larger bowl filled with ice water. When cool, transfer to refrigerator (cover with plastic wrap if using a bowl) and chill for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.

When custard base is completely chilled, churn ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions until the ice cream is the consistency of soft serve. If desired, you can stir in a few more coarsely chopped strawberries at this point if you want larger, more visible chunks. Spoon a into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight until firm.