Motivational Carrot Ice Cream

Homeschooling has many challenges. I won't name names, to protect the innocent, but one of my children lives in his/her own world, sings his/her own theme song, and has the attention of a butterfly on crack. It's tough to get this child to settle down, focus, stop humming the Duel of the Fates, and finish an assigned page of work.

I know there are many different strategies for dealing with a child like this. I'm a firm believer in a combination of threats and bribery - the carrot and the stick. If this child knows there's no playing with toys, no TV time, and most importantly, no ice cream until the work is finished, he/she is much more likely to finish his work in 2 hours, rather than 12 hours.

Obviously, a key to my homeschooling success is to have a freezer well-stocked with ice cream. My most recent churning is heavenly. It's a luscious dark chocolate, sprinkled with cacao nibs. The base for the ice cream is so thick it's like pouring pudding into the ice cream freezer. Make sure you have a heavy duty ice cream maker for this one. I made it once in my Donvier and I broke the handle trying to turn it!




The Depths of Chocolate Ice Cream
- adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
3 Tbsp (21 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 oz (140 g) bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped*
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cacao nibs*

1- Warm 1 cup (250 ml) of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Stir in the remaining 1 cup (250 ml) cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top fo the bowl.

2- Without washing the pan, warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Set the bowl on a rubber glove or silicone hot pad to keep it from skittering over the counter. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

3- Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

4- Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, several hours or overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

* I used Amano Jembrana 70% dark chocolate and Amano Madagascar Cacao nibs in this. Fabulous!