Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Amazing chocolate flavor without being bitter or overwhelming.
Texture: Perfectly rich, luscious, and creamy. The slightly chewy and thick fudge swirl just takes it to a new level!
Ease: This is a custard-based chocolate ice cream recipe, so there are a few extra steps and waiting periods involved. I promise it’s worth it!
Pros: Possibly the best chocolate ice cream recipe ever.
Cons: Requires patience.
Would I make this again? Oh yeah. Without a doubt!
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You’re going to love this homemade Death by Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe. Did you know that I published a cookbook all about homemade ice cream sandwiches a few years ago?
I tested *hundreds* of batches of ice cream and got to the point where I was convinced I could have made perfect ice cream in my sleep. Writing a cookbook is a crazy whirlwind undertaking and now I have flashbacks to those messy, stressful, wonderful days any time I make ice cream. I actually made so much ice cream back then that I had to buy another freezer!
Oh, and there was that time during the middle of the cookbook photoshoot at my house where my AC went out. In the middle of summer. In Phoenix, Arizona. Shooting ice cream in 100°F weather is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies…
SO, basically what I’m saying is that whenever I share an ice cream recipe, you know that I’ve got you covered. It’s gonna be good! This Death by Chocolate Ice Cream recipe is for serious chocoholics only.
How to Make Death by Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients for Death by Chocolate Ice Cream:
- Whole milk plus heavy cream – The base for our ice cream. Be sure to use full-fat dairy.
- Granulated sugar – The KEY to creamy ice cream! Like the fat, the sugar also helps to create a smooth, creamy texture, and scoopable ice cream. If you reduce the sugar you’ll make an ice cream that’s brittle and icy. Learn more about the role sugar plays in typical baking in my article here.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process – For a rich chocolate flavor.
- Fine sea salt – To balance the sweetness.
- Vanilla extract – For flavor.
- Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate – Melted, for even more rich chocolate flavor!
- Eggs – More on this below.
Ingredients for Chocolate Fudge Swirl:
- Heavy cream and unsalted butter – To form the base of our fudge swirl and create a fantastic texture.
- Sugars – Both granulated sugar and light brown sugar, for sweetness and flavor, and also prevent sugar crystallization.
- Semisweet chocolate chips – Because chocolate! You can use darker chocolate instead, if you prefer.
- Fine salt – To balance the sweetness.
- Vanilla extract – For flavor.
Why Custard-Based Ice Cream?
Generally, there are two types of homemade ice creams.
- American/Philadelphia-Style Ice Cream: This contains no eggs or cooking, and is made by combining milk, cream, sugar, and flavorings, then churning in an ice cream maker. This is quicker and easier than custard-based ice cream – but less rich and tends to get icy in the freezer.
- French/Custard-Based Ice Cream: This involves cooking a custard with eggs to a safe temperature slowly on the stovetop, letting that cool then chill completely, then churning in an ice cream maker. The result is an ultra-rich, creamy, and smooth ice cream. This is the method we’re using for our Death by Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe.
How to Make Custard-Based Ice Cream
I have a full step-by-step video tutorial on how to make custard-based ice cream here. If you’ve never made custard ice cream before, I highly suggest you watch it before making this recipe! Here are some more tips:
- Prepare the ice bath before you cook the custard, so you can immediately remove it from the heat and strain it into the ice bath. This stops the cooking process, preventing the custard from becoming overcooked. Overcooked custard will curdle.
- Be careful when tempering the egg yolks. Whisk constantly as you slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the beaten yolks. This process allows you to gently heat the yolks so you don’t scramble them and end up with chunky ice cream.
- For best results, use an instant-read thermometer to cook the custard to 175°F, or until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon. If the mix is off by a couple of degrees, that’s fine.
- Whatever you do, do not stop stirring, and do not let it boil.
Why Use Eggs In Ice Cream?
Using eggs in ice cream results in an ultra-rich, thick, creamy, and smooth homemade chocolate ice cream.
Always Use Full-Fat Dairy for Ice Cream!
Do not substitute low-fat dairy products in this recipe. The fat in the cream and whole milk help give the ice cream its luxuriously smooth and soft texture. If you use low-fat dairy products, the ice cream will become hard and icy.
HOW TO CHURN HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
How to Make Ice Cream With an Ice Cream Machine
- I used my trusty Cuisinart Ice Cream machine to churn this Death by Chocolate Ice Cream. I’ve made literally hundreds of batches of ice cream in this machine and it’s never failed me.
- If you’re using a machine like this, just make sure the freezer bowl is COMPLETELY frozen – otherwise, you’ll end up with soup instead of ice cream. I like to freeze mine overnight just to be sure.
- Also make sure your custard mixture is completely chilled before churning, for the same reason. Everything needs to be cold cold cold. Then, proceed with the manufacturer’s instructions.
How to Make Ice Cream WITHOUT a Machine
Although using an ice cream machine is the easiest way to get beautifully rich and creamy ice cream, I’ve got you covered if you don’t have one. I have a full video tutorial showing you three ways to make ice cream without a machine here.
How to Store & Serve Death by Chocolate Ice Cream
Store the ice cream in an airtight container with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed against the surface. This will help prevent ice from forming. The longer you freeze the more time the flavors will have to ripen.
If the ice cream is in the freezer for an extended period of time, let it sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before scooping so it can soften evenly. Remember, this is homemade stuff so there are no stabilizers or softening agents in it! This ice cream scoop makes even the hardest ice cream scoop like butter. Store for up to 2 weeks in the freezer – though I doubt it’ll last that long!
More Ice Cream Recipes to Try:
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Coffee Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Frozen Mint Chocolate Chip Pie
Death by Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the ice cream:
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (227 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted
- 4 large egg yolks
For the fudge swirl:
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the ice cream:
- Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice cubes and 1 to 2 cups of water. Place a medium bowl fitted with a fine strainer inside the ice bath.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Set over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is warm and begins to steam, about 5 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Carefully whisk half of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, one ladleful at a time, until the egg mixture is warmed. Whisk the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and registers around 175°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 to 7 minutes. Be careful not to boil the mixture.
- Immediately strain the mixture through the fine strainer into the prepared ice bath. Cool the custard in the ice bath until it reaches room temperature, stirring often. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the custard and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours or up to 1 day.
Make the fudge swirl:
- Heat the cream, butter, and sugars in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Let stand for 3 minutes before stirring until completely smooth. Stir in the salt and vanilla. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before using. Fudge swirl can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.
Finish the ice cream:
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container in batches, spooning the fudge swirl in between layers of ice cream in a swirled pattern. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the ice cream and freeze until it is firm, about 3 hours, before serving.
Hello, I have a cuisinart ice cream machine too and have made it but I think I probably didn’t churn it long enough. Can I ask how long you churned it for?
Also, the flavours blew my mind 😁 thanks.
Hi Shan! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this ice cream! The Cuisinart ice cream machine manual typically recommends churning for 15-20 minutes. If it’s warm in your kitchen, extending the churn time to 20-25 minutes might help achieve better results. Remember, it’s essential to rely on visual cues during the process. You’ll want the ice cream to reach a thick and creamy consistency, similar to soft-serve ice cream. If it hasn’t quite reached that point yet, feel free to continue churning for a few extra minutes until that texture is reached. Once the churning is complete, try pressing plastic wrap against the surface of the ice cream before freezing it until firm, which usually takes about 3 hours. I hope that helps! Enjoy your ice cream 🙂
is there a video of death by chocolate ice cream
Hi John! Unfortunately, we don’t have a video showing how to make this Death by Chocolate Ice Cream recipe, but check out Tessa’s How to Make Ice Cream recipe here (at the bottom of the recipe card) – it’s essentially the same base recipe, with a few additional and altered ingredients to make the base chocolate, and of course the fudge swirl won’t be included in that video. I hope that helps! Enjoy your ice cream!
Great flavor and great texture. What’s not to love?
I also have a kitchenAid ice cream maker attachment. How long would you say it needs to churn for?
Hi Marisa! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure! Let us know how it goes if you give that a try!
Delightfully and deliciously rich. And fun to make! Shared some with a neighbor and almost immediately got back a picture of an empty pint. So good.
Thank you for putting this together and sharing!!!
My family and I are madly in love with the death by chocolate recipe. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I am looking to experiment with this and make a dairy/gluten free version for those that are sensitive to those things but also love chocolate. I used this recipe and substituted the whole milk and whipping cream for oat milk 1:1 and used Hu Dark Chocolate bars as my chosen chocolate (70% cocoa). I left everything else the same. The end product came out really smooth but with a sand-like gritty texture as well. Any thoughts on why this might happen and how to fix it?
Hi Zade! We have not tried anything like that, as we don’t make gluten-free or dairy-free recipes – but my best guess would be either your chocolate bars became too hot (melted chocolate can become gritty if it gets too hot), or your sugar didn’t melt properly, or possibly something to do with your oat milk’s temperature also becoming too hot and developing grittiness. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help! Good luck in your experiments!
Thanks so much for the reply! I took your suggestion and heated up everything as slowly as my stove could just to test all the variables. This helped a ton! The visible grit went down almost completely. However, while it was difficult to see, there was still very very tiny grit still visible if I let the chocolate mixture drip down the the side of the pot from a spoon. It was way to fine a grit to get out with a fine strainer. Much smaller than sand grains. After churning the texture was very smooth, but the flavor felt like a chocolate powder. You could feel that super fine grit as well. Could this be a result of cocoa powder or the chocolate bars? Some quick research on my end shows arguments that it could be either. For reference, everything was measured with a gram scale for accuracy,
Hi Brian! I’m glad to hear that experimenting here mostly went well! Without baking alongside you, it’s hard to say for sure what’s going wrong here, but I’d recommend experimenting with other cocoas and other chocolates to see if this improves the texture. Good luck!!
I’m confused! You make the icecream and then chill up to a day! Then make the swurl; to finish you say put the mixture in ice cream maker… so I put the stuff that is already chilled and the swirl?
Hi Carolyn! The ice cream isn’t finished until it’s churned – the first step of this recipe is to make the custard portion and chill, then you make the fudge swirl, then you pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze as directed based on your ice cream maker. As you transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, that’s when you’ll spoon the fudge swirl into the ice cream. I hope that helps!
Fantastic! Creamy, rich, tasty. Deserves it 5-star rating 100%!
Super rich! I’ve made it a couple of times and it’s been a hit. The ice cream is almost custard like
just brilliant! Thank you!
my favorite chocolate ice cream . unbeatable, simply the best