Dark Chocolate & Stout Ice-Cream: Recipe

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RECIPES | This dark chocolate and stout ice-cream recipe came out of the need to validate the purchase of a ice cream maker. I mean we bought one so now we have to use it right? After creating this recipe we no longer have buyer’s remorse. It’s rich, creamy and utterly satisfying, even non beer drinkers will love this ice cream, which has rich roasted malt notes that balance perfectly with the dark chocolate.

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Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes / Freezing & Churning Time: 3.5 hours / Serves: 8

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Ingredients

• 250ml stout
• 225g 58% dark chocolate, chopped roughly
• 200ml full cream milk
• 250ml heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks (keep the egg whites for the meringue topping)
• 125g caster sugar
• 3g vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt

Optional – Italian meringue and wafer biscuits

• 4 egg whites
• 200g caster sugar
• 200ml water
• 8 wafer biscuits

Method

1. Warm the sugar, milk, cream and salt in a saucepan on a low heat.
2. Once warm, add the egg yolks and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens into a custard like consistency.
3. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps.
4. Pour the strained mixture on top of the chocolate and mix well until all the chocolate has melted.
5. Add the stout and vanilla extract and mix until a uniform consistency is achieved.
6. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and allow it to churn for 90 minutes.
7. Transfer the ice cream into an air tight container and freeze for a further two hours.

Italian Meringue:

1. Add the water and caster sugar into a saucepan and cook until the syrup reaches 115°C. This takes about 7-8 minutes
2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks are reached.
3. Slowly add the syrup to the egg whites while whisking on a high speed.
4. Continue whisking until all the syrup is incorporated and stiff peaks are achieved.
5. Divide the ice cream into eight bowls/cups and top with the Italian meringue.
6. Lightly blow torch the top of the meringue, top each portion with a wafer and serve immediately.

Notes

We used the Horn Swatter from Old Wives Ales as it’s a great example of a what a normal stout should be. Make sure you go for a well balanced, textbook style stout rather than something fancy or flavoured.
When making the custard (Step 2) you need to stir constantly otherwise the egg will curdle. If you are concerned about curdling the egg you can use a double boiler in step 1 and 2. It will take longer for the mixture to thicken however it is a more forgiving method.