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THE LIKE-A-PRO ICE CREAM
With unsweetened cocoa powder, milk, cream, sugar, and xanthan gum.
This Cocoa Powder-only ice cream is perfect for celebrating the flavour of your favourite cocoa powder. It’s also great for those days when you want to make chocolate ice cream but only have cocoa powder in the cupboard. We love it for its mild chocolate flavour, which is also perfect for children.
Ice Creams made with xanthan gum are our Like-A-Pro ice creams, because which just one extra ingredient -xanthan gum-, you can make an eggless ice cream with a perfect, full-bodied mouthfeel, which churns beautifully, melts uniformly during serving, and keeps well in the freezer for a long time. Just like professionals do!
No xanthan gum? Here are 3 more ways to make this ice cream:
Do not reduce or replace anything; everything is there for a reason.
This is a quick overview of the recipe. If you are new to ice cream making, do read the recipe before proceeding.
Bring to a boil cocoa, sugar, part of milk and heavy cream.
Pour in the blender jug with rest of the cold milk. Turn the blender on and sprinkle the xanthan gum.
Add the remaining heavy cream.
Put the ice cream mixture in the refrigerator overnight, or until completely cold.
Churn in your ice cream maker until creamy and wavy.
Put it in the freezer for a few hours to set.
As soon as it sets, you can either serve it from the ice cream maker bowl or transfer it to a container and store it in the freezer.
When making ice cream, prefer to weigh all the ingredients, even the liquid ones. We also recommend – whenever possible – to weigh the liquid ingredients directly into the bowl/pan as you proceed with the recipe instead of transferring them from one bowl to another because this transfer causes a small -but unwanted- loss of quantity.
If you do not have a kitchen scale, follow these guidelines:
• 1 cup (US) = 237 ml | 1 tablespoon = 15 ml
• sugar: measuring sugar in tablespoons is more accurate than measuring it in cups. Use a 15 ml measuring tablespoon (not a regular one); this is 13 gr of sugar. To measure correctly, each time you scoop the sugar, level it with the flat side of a knife.
• cocoa powder: first, sift the cocoa powder into a bowl and then measure by the spoonful by gently taking a spoonful at a time; and levelling it with the flat side of a knife. Do measure the cocoa powder right after sifting it, as its volume lessens while it sits.
• milk and heavy cream: thoroughly scrape with a rubber spatula any residues left on the sides and bottom of the cup every time you measure something and empty it.
Note that the quantities in each measuring system (grams, ounces, and cups) in our recipes may not always be accurate conversions; any deviations in conversions you may notice do not affect the outcome.
This recipe makes a 1.2 litre/quart ice cream mixture (before churning), perfect for ice cream makers with a capacity of 1.5 and up to 2 litres/quarts (like Cuisinart ice cream makers).
If you need to scale the ice cream mixture up or down, use this ratio of the ingredients (in weight only):
milk 45% / heavy cream 36.4% / sugar 16.38 % / cocoa powder 2.1% / xanthan gum 0.12%
in desired total weight of ice cream mixture.
For example, if you want to make 1000 g (approx. 1 litre) of ice cream mixture, you need:
• 1000 g x 45% = 450 g milk
• 1000 g x 36.4% = 364 g heavy cream
• 1000 g x 16.38% = 164 g sugar
• 1000 g x 2.1% = 21 g cocoa powder
• 1000 g x 0.12% = 1.2 g xanthan gum
You can adjust the quantity of the xanthan gum in the recipe to your liking, depending on the texture you want to achieve:
A flexible rubber spatula is good for:
-wiping the bottom of the saucepan when you cook dairy on the stovetop.
-scraping residues from bowls, saucepans etc.
If you do not have one, we strongly encourage you to buy one, preferably a flexible one.
The ice cream mixture needs to cool completely and hydrate before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator.
If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.
Pour 2/3 of the cold milk (350 g; 12.3 oz) into the blender jug and have the blender set up and ready to use.
Combine the sugar and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan: Add the sifted cocoa powder (25 g; 1 oz) and the sugar (190 g; 6.7 oz) into a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly to combine until the mixture is a uniform colour with no streaks.
Add 1/3 of the milk and 1/4 of the cream: Pour the remaining 1/3 of the milk (175 g; 6.2 oz) and approx. 1/4 of the heavy cream (100 g; 3.5 oz) into the saucepan and stir with the rubber spatula to moisten the sugar and cocoa powder. Scrape the saucepan’s bottom, corners, and sides to ensure they are lumps-free.
Bring to a boil: Warm over medium heat, often stirring, until the cocoa dissolves and the milk is hot and steamy.
Increase the heat to high. As soon as the milk comes to a rolling boil (when large bubbles that pop vigorously appear on the surface / approx. 95°C / 203°F / if it starts to overflow), immediately remove it from the heat and
Pour the hot cocoa mixture into the blender jug and turn the blender on (medium speed).
Sprinkle in the xanthan gum: with the blender on, carefully open the cap and slowly sprinkle the xanthan gum (½ teaspoon) over the blending surface of the mixture, avoiding the sides of the cap.
Blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum; do not estimate the time; set a timer. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.
Combine the warm cocoa mixture with the remaining cold heavy cream (325 g; 11.5 oz) if your blender is large enough, you can add the remaining heavy cream into the blender, blend until it is a uniform brown colour, then pour into a bowl. Else, pour the cold heavy cream into a large bowl, add the warm cocoa mixture, scraping residues off the blender and stir with a rubber spatula to combine
Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Xanthan gum needs approx. 8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop.
Check if the ice cream mixture is cold before churning it: below 12ºC / 54ºF / it feels fridge-cold when you place your (clean) finger into it.
Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Blitz: give the ice cream mixture a nice, thorough stirring, then a quick blitz with the immersion blender to ensure a smooth texture.
Churn: with the machine running, pour the ice cream mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker. Leave to churn until fluffed up and creamy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Tip: Extend the churning time by 10 minutes more than your ice cream maker’s recommended time.
This ice cream will expand and fluff up during churning. It is ready when it looks creamy and wavy, with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.
To evaluate if it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon, but it will still be soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.
In any case, if you feel doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: at this stage, do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve ice cream. It will firm up and become like store-bought ice cream only after it sets in the freezer.
So, stop the ice cream maker when thick and creamy, as described above. If you leave to churn it for much longer, it will start turning grainy.
Warning: some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the ice cream may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the ice cream, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.
Put in the freezer to set: before serving the ice cream or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and:
· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine
· remove the paddle, scraping any ice cream attached to it back into the ice cream bowl
· place it in the freezer, uncovered
Setting time depends on many factors; see notes below for indicative times.
Serve or store: when it sets, you can serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storage.
The time it takes for ice cream to set depends on the type of ice cream maker you are using. Here are the approximate setting times:
– 3-5 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the bowls that need to be pre-frozen before churning)
– 1-2 hours for aluminum bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)
Please note that these times are approximate and can vary based on different factors. You should check the ice cream occasionally, approximately every 1-2 hours or as needed, while it is in the freezer. The ice cream is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of -11°C / 12°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can check if the ice cream has set by inserting a round tip knife into it all the way to the bottom:
– When the ice cream is ready, it should feel firm as you go down, but also soft enough to insert the knife.
– If it’s not ready, it may feel hard on the top and softer as you go down.
– If it’s been in the freezer for too long, it will be too hard to insert the knife and likely too hard to scoop out of the ice cream bowl. In this case, you can find out how to make it scoopable again by clicking on the next section.
If the ice cream stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will become too hard to remove or serve.
To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:
(Note: the time given is indicative, time may vary depending on many factors, so do check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)
When the ice cream is soft enough to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C /12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the freezer bowl.
Straight after churning, the ice cream has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything. So it is too messy to serve or transfer to another container.
Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency: scoopable and easy to serve or transfer to another container to store it.
Storing: In the freezer for one month, cover it well to protect it from absorbing the freezer’s smells.
Scooping: Like all artisanal ice cream, this ice cream freezes hard in the long term. You can make it perfectly scoopable again by putting it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes until soft or until its internal temperature reads -11°C / 12°F.
2 Responses
I’m diabetic,why would allulose not work ?
Sugar does much more in the ice cream than sweetening it: it traps the free water in the ice cream mixture and adds to the creamy ice cream mouthfeel. Sweeteners do not have this ability to trap water. And this free water in the ice cream makes it icy.
Furthermore, each sweetener has its own sweetening ability, which means one cannot substitute e.g. 100 g of sugar with 100 gr of stevia unless they know how sweet this 100 g of stevia is.
If you know how much allulose you need to substitute with the amount of sugar for this recipe, then you can try it. But do expect the ice cream to have a cold mouthfeel; and to turn icy, after a day or two in the freezer.