One of our favorite kitchen gadgets (and also a wedding gift from Mr. Handsome’s aunt and uncle) is our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. We use it all the time during the spring, summer, and fall. The day that thing gives out will be one sad day.
I have mentioned my ice cream maker before, and a few of my readers requested that I post my chocolate ice cream recipe. It’s absolutely delicious! Very chocolatey and pretty low in sugar. But a word to the wise, don’t eat it late in the evening, or you will be up all night, as it contains a lot of cocoa. (I made that mistake yesterday…)
Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar I use Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 3¼ cups 2% milk
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
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In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together cocoa, sugar, and corn starch until combined.
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Add milk. Whisk strongly for 2 minutes, or until dry ingredients are dissolved. (You can also use an electric hand mixer on low speed or an old-fashioned hand mixer.) Whisk in heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract.
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Pour liquid into ice cream machine, and turn it on. Ours takes 35-45 minutes, but the time will be different for different machines.
Recipe Notes
Homemade ice cream tends to freeze very solid, so be sure to pull the leftovers out of the freezer about 20 minutes before serving.
How does this compare price-wise to something like Breyer's ice cream, which contains only basic ingredients like that? My grocery store has that brand of ice cream Buy 1 Get 1 Free a lot, so I can't see a cost saving difference or a healthier choice difference (maybe only on the sugar grams). A cup of cocoa powder is very expensive, as is all that milk and cream.
Hi there,
Based on my calculations, the price is comparable to average quality store-bought ice cream and cheaper than really high quality store-bought ice cream. It doesn't contain any artificial sugars, preservatives, colors, or flavors (unless you buy heavy whipping cream that does), which most store-bought ice creams do. I buy cocoa powder from Aldi or Walmart. Costs less than $3 for a carton that makes 2-3 batches. Milk is $2.50 per gallon at Aldi and Walmart. The price of heavy whipping can vary, but I found a carton of organic for only $3.50 at Kroger.
Ellie
Here is a challenge for homeschoolers to do, figure out the nutrion table for a serving of that ice cream. (Or maybe I am just too dumb and lazy to sit down and do that myself!) Looks delicious Ellie! You have some nice ideas!
Lol. Thank you! 🙂
Ellie
We have the same ice cream maker!
Don't you just love it? What recipes do you like to make?
Ellie
YUM!! Will have to try over the summer. Made your Swedish Meatballs and they were perfect! May you please do a recipe for Chicken Salad? It's one of my faves! Thank you so much!
I'm glad to hear that, Emily! I've never made chicken salad, but I love it, too. I'll see if I can come up with a recipe. Might take me a bit of time to experiment.
Ellie
Hi I am in the province of Manitoba, Canada. There is a show on TV right now called Great Tastes of Manitoba and it shows really good recipies. The good news is that there is a website with all the recipes it is http://www.greattastesmb.ca
I think you would be interested in some of the food recipes. For example tonight they made a salad with raw spinach and cooked hot mushrooms and cheese. Also they grilled big portabelo mushrooms as an alternative to meat burgers.
Your ice cream looks wonderful! You must be comforted knowing it is all healthy ingredients! Sometimes milk products can be gotten at 50% off, if they are getting close to the expiry date. Also you could show us some other ice cream flavours made with in season fruits. Here we have a good second hand website called kijiji and if I ever want to get an ice cream maker I could look there for one. If people want to follow your ideas there might be some ways to lower the costs. I have eaten lots of ice cream in my lifetime so I don't need to rush to do this one. Yet I always love to read your blog and see what you are sharing about. Thanks!
Hi there,
I'll have to check out Great Tastes of Manitoba. Thanks!
Yes, adding in-season fruits would be a great idea. Thanks for being a loyal reader. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. 🙂
Ellie
The Ice Cream looks good Ellie!
Thank you!
Ellie
I found it interesting that at the time of Mother's Day you have posted about ice cream. Beause as an empty nest mom today I would be happy to comfort myself with some ice cream as well as phone calls, emails and cards that mean the world to me!
I hadn't thought about that, but I think any day is a good day for ice cream. 🙂 Hope you had a good Mother's Day! How many children do you have?
Ellie
Four.
Yum! Home made ice-cream is the best! I made vanilla ice-cream for Mother's Day. I do a dairy free option, basically you use coconut milk and coconut cream, egg yolks, honey and vanilla bean and make a custard with it. Let it cool down then put it in you ice-cream maker.
That sounds incredible, Robyn. Feel free to send me a sample! LOL.
Ellie
Looks and sounds delicious thank you Ellie! I was wondering if whenever you have the time, I know you are busy with different things, if you could post a day in the life Vlog of your life. You wouldn't have to include everything only what you are comfortable with sharing of course! I bet the readers would be interested to read as I would too,thank you.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to work on that. My days vary quite a bit, but I'll see what I can come up with.
Ellie
And finish the love story vlog too, please!
There should never be cornstarch in ice cream!
Hi Kanadiangirl,
It helps thicken the ice cream so you don't have to add more heavy cream. But if you like to experiment, you can feel free to omit it. 🙂
Ellie
We've made tons of ice cream and we sometimes buy some organic kind. Neither ever contain any thickening agent.
Thanks for the recipe!