no rocks in this road

Blame it on the warm weather, but two different ice cream recipes in a row are an essential for this time of year. Whether they're melted, frozen, toasted or eaten plain, it's become apparent to me that I've become increasingly obsessed with marshmallows, as I've gotten older. They're a wonderful companion to chocolate and superb in a s'more (no matter what type of s'more it is!) and elevate a chocolate ice cream to sublime standards. 

I love texture in my food- especially in my ice cream, and when I flipped through this cookbook, by David Lebovitz, I wasn't dead-set on making the chocolate ice cream until I saw the footnote at the bottom suggesting some add-ins to make your own Rocky Road. Done. I zeroed in on that tiny font and clung to the idea of a rich, decadent chocolate ice cream with that crunchy and chewy texture I craved. And I was not disappointed!

This chocolate ice cream alone is rich, since there's two kinds of chocolate in it, and it's amazingly delicious on it's own, but if you're like me, the sweet additions make it absolutely perfect!

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Recipe barely adapted from The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz

Makes 1 quart

Recipe Notes-

- You may be able to tell from the photo's that I didn't roast or toast my almonds... it was pure laziness on my part because I was just so ready to eat this thing that I couldn't handle the thought of another step. Clearly, this is up to you whether you want to do it. 

- Only main differences in recipes is that I added the chocolate chips and more vanilla to the recipe. 

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

3 Tbs. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup whole milk

¾ cup sugar

Pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup mini chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate chunks)

1 cup roasted peanuts or toasted almonds, coarsely chopped.

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, warm 1 cup of heavy cream with the cocoa powder, whisking thoroughly to blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.

2. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining cup of cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

3. Heat the milk, sugar and salt in the same saucepan over medium-low heat.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Gradually ladle some of the warm milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

7. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula (around 5-8 minutes). Strain the custard into the chocolate mixture, and then stir in the vanilla. Refrigerate to chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

8. Place cooled mixture in your prepared ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once mixture has thickened to ice cream, add the marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts.