Happy Chocolate Ice Cream Day

Do they make a card for this?

In honor of today I have included a recipe for milk chocolate ice cream with mini marshmallows. Chocolate and marshmallow is one of this fellow's favorite combinations. Whether it is pinwheel cookies, chocolate snowballs with marshmallow fluff, or today's ice cream recipe I will eat it.

When I was kid, my parents used to take me to the mall to the local Friendly's for ice cream. I always ordered chocolate marshmallow. When Friendly's stopped carrying it, I was disappointed. That Friendly's location went out of business soon after. Let that be a lesson to you. Don't mess with chocolate marshmallow.

Milk chocolate is a wonderful ingredient that creates the most fantastic finished product. It has a creaminess and softness to it that you don't find in the darker varieties. That means that there you can use less sugar to overcome chocolate's bitterness.

It also means that you had better pick a great milk chocolate. Anything less will leave a washed out flavor in the finished product. There are a lot of expensive milk chocolates. Try to find the one that has the boldest chocolate flavor. It may not be the best for eating at room temperature, but it will fare better when frozen. I tasted four milk chocolates at the local Whole Foods on Thursday before making my decision -- Caro, Valrhona, Callebaut, and El Rey.

1. Caro is an interesting one because they caramelize the milk. It makes the chocolate sweeter and although tasty, the chocolate flavor was more washed out.
2. El Rey 41% - As with the Caro, this was good, but is a better candidate for candy making and baking than ice cream.
3. Callebaut 34% - This was the runner up. This was the best tasting bar to eat at room temperature. Consistently ranking high on most taste tests, Callebaut had a great flavor. It was decisively chocolaty and not overly sweet.
4. Valrhona Jivara 40% - The one I chose. As intense as possible in a 40% chocolate bar and it had the best mouth feel -- incredibly silky and smooth. If it weren't for the texture, I would not eat this bar plain. It was not the best tasting one, but it was the most intensely flavored.

I apologize for not having a chart for this one. There is no information about the breakdown of the content of this chocolate readily available. I am in touch with a Valrhona importer to get the specific information. When I get it, I will share it with you.

Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with Marshmallows

6 ¼ oz of milk chocolate
2 cups cream
2 ¼ cups of milk
5 egg yolks
mini marshmallows

1. Combine the cream, milk, and ½ cup of the sugar in a saucepan and heat to a bare simmer stirring occasionally.
2. Combine the egg yolks with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Beat until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and the mixture turns pale yellow.
3. Coarsely chop the chocolate.
4. Once the cream mixture is at ready, remove it from the heat.
5. Temper the eggs by mixing in a small amount of the cream, stir thoroughly, and repeat three times. You should use about 1/3 of a cup of hot cream mixture in total. Then pour the complete egg mixture into the cream pot.
6. Return the pot to the heat and stir constantly until the custard reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Remove the pot from the heat. And add the chocolate. Stir until the contents are completely melted. If you are having problems getting the chocolate to melt, you may return the pot to the heat very briefly.
8. Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
9. Cover the bowl and chill overnight.
10. The next day, freeze the custard in your ice cream machine. During the last minute of the freezing process, add the marshmallows.