Summer Lovin'

A couple of months back, I succumbed to temptation and broke down and purchased an ice cream maker. You always hear that people get these and never use them so I made sure to get a nice one. And, I'm happy to say that we use it semi-regularly! Just the other night I whipped up some yummy ice cream and thought I'd wet your taste buds with a picture and a recipe. I can't take total credit, Alton Brown from Food Network provided this delicious recipe. There's nothing like homemade!

Chocolate Ice Cream

• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approx. 1/2 cup


• 3 cups half-and-half (I just used our yummy whole raw milk)


• 1 cup heavy cream


• 8 large egg yolks (thank you to our hens!)


• 9 ounces sugar


• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coast the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream make and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25-35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden. Enjoy!