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THE TAKE-IT-EASY ICE CREAM
With chocolate, cocoa powder, milk, cream, and sugar.
Philadelphia-style ice cream is our Take-It-Easy ice cream; it is what we make when we are short of time yet want to make something that everyone will love. Easy and superb, it is a delightful reminder of how great it is to make our own ice cream at home.
Bonus: If you have many ice cubes, make a superfast chilling ice bath and have the mixture ready to churn in less than one hour.
For the best dark chocolate ice cream flavour, use your favourite chocolate and Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The recipe notes include tips on boosting the ice cream’s flavour.
More to explore:
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 the milk, heavy sugar, cocoa powder, and 100 g heavy cream, whisking to dissolve the cocoa powder.
Add the chopped chocolate and whisk to melt.
Blend until smooth; add the heavy cream.
Cool down over an ice bath.
Put the ice cream mixture in the refrigerator overnight or until completely cold (a faster chilling method is also included in the recipe).
Churn in your ice cream maker until fluffed up and creamy.
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 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 tablespoons = 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.
• chocolate/couverture: measuring chocolate in cups is not possible because measurements vary depending on how finely chopped the chocolate is. Instead, you can estimate the number of chocolate pieces you need based on the weight of the chocolate bar as written on the packaging.
• 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):
whole milk 43.9% | heavy cream 27.2% | sugar 13.4 % | chocolate 70% 11.3% | cocoa powder 4.2% in desired total weight of ice cream mixture.
You can enhance the flavour of this dark chocolate ice cream by substituting regular sugar with high-quality raw cane sugar, such as Demerara or Turbinado. These sugars have a natural subtle caramel flavour that complements the chocolate’s tropical notes and enhances its overall flavour.
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 before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator. Alternatively, if you have plenty of ice cubes, you can have the ice cream mixture ready for churning in less than one hour; you will find detailed instructions in step 2.
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.
Place a rubber spatula and a whisk on a plate next to the stovetop so they are ready to use interchangeably.
Sift the cocoa powder (50 g; 1.8 oz) through a fine-mesh sieve and into a small bowl, if you haven’t already done so. Do not skip sifting, it is necessary.
Warm the milk with the cocoa powder, sugar, and 100 g of the heavy cream: in a medium saucepan, add the milk (525 g; 18.5 oz), the sugar (160 g; 5.6 oz), the cocoa powder (50 g; 1.8 oz) and 100 g of the heavy cream (3.5 oz). Warm over medium heat, often whisking, until the cocoa dissolves and the milk is hot and steamy. As the cocoa dissolves, use the spatula to scrape off cocoa residues from the saucepan’s bottom, corners and sides; it should feel completely free of clumps.
Bring to a boil: when all the cocoa dissolves, and the bottom feels completely smooth and free of lumps, increase the heat to high and whisk constantly; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour into a large heatproof bowl.
Add the chopped chocolate (135 g; 4.8 oz) and whisk to melt it until the whisk comes out clean of chocolate lumps. Thoroughly scrape with the rubber spatula the inside of the bowl.
Pour the rest of the heavy cream (225 g; 7.9 oz) into the saucepan and stir with the rubber spatula to collect cocoa residues from the bottom of the saucepan. Pour everything into the bowl with the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
Blend with an immersion/regular blender for 30 seconds or until no brown clumps are visible, pausing to scrape residues from the bottom and sides of the saucepan/blender with the rubber spatula as needed.
Cool it down: prepare an ice bath by putting the bowl with the ice cream mixture into a larger bowl and filling the empty sides with ice cubes and cold water. How many ice cubes? A tray of ice cubes (200 g; 7 oz of ice) is enough to bring the ice cream mixture to room temperature. Let the ice cream mixture cool down for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, if you have many ice cubes, you can have the mixture ready for churning in 40 minutes. Click on the bulb box right below to see how.
If you have two trays of ice cubes, you can have the ice cream mixture ready for churning in less than 20 minutes, by cooling the warm milk completely in an ice bath.
The smaller the quantity of the mixture you chill in the ice bath, the fewer ice cubes you need. So prefer to cool the warmed milk (from step 1) in the ice bath before adding the rest of the liquids. As soon as the milk is fridge-cold, you can remove it from the ice bath, add the cold cream and the rest of the cold milk and churn.
How to prepare an ice bath for fast chilling:
1. Put the milk in a bowl made of heatproof glass or stainless steel; these materials help the milk chill fast and do not break in sudden temperature changes. Avoid using a plastic bowl which will take forever to cool, or a regular glass bowl that may break upon contact with the ice bath.
2. Nest the bowl with the milk into a large empty bowl (it should be large enough to fit ice cubes on the sides) and fill the sides of the large empty bowl with ice cubes. How many ice cubes? Well, the more ice you put in, the faster it will chill.
3. Pour cold water into the sides of the large bowl, taking care that no water slips into the milk. Pour as much cold water as needed so that the level of the water bath in the large bowl is 2 cm / 1 inch above the milk.
For this quantity of milk, we started with approx. 300 g; 10 oz ice cubes and less than 1 litre fridge-cold water.
4. Refresh the ice bath with new ice cubes as soon as the older ones start to melt. If you have a thermometer, add enough ice cubes to keep the water well below 10° C / 50° F – take care that you measure the temperature of the water itself, not the ice temperature. The colder the ice bath, the faster the milk will chill. We used approximately 250 g; 9 oz additional ice cubes.
5. Stir often, leaving the spatula in the bowl during the cooling process. The milk is ready when it is fridge-cold to the touch (4-12° C / 39-54° F).
6. Remove the bowl with the milk from the ice bath, and wipe its bottom with a kitchen towel. Add the cold cream and the rest of the cold milk; the ice cream mixture is now ready for churning.
Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Or if you have many ice cubes, you can have the mixture ready for churning in 40 minutes. Click on the bulb box right above to see how.
When churning with a domestic ice cream maker, the ice cream mixture must be fridge-cold (4ºC–12ºC / 39ºF-54ºF / it feels fridge-cold when you place your index finger into it).
If the ice cream mixture is not cold enough, the ice cream maker may not be able to churn it to its fullest potential, resulting in a sloppy liquid vs. fluffy ice cream.
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.
Stir: give the ice cream mixture a nice, thorough stirring. If it is too thick, give it a quick blitz with an immersion blender.
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.
This ice cream will expand and fluff up during churning. It is ready when it looks smooth and fluffy, 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: Philadelphia-style ice cream is at its best when eaten the day it is made. If you want to keep it for longer, cover it well to protect it from the freezer’s smell and keep it in the freezer for up to one month.
Scooping: this ice cream, like all artisanal 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.