Mexican Hot-Chocolate Ice-cream (Chocolate de tablilla)

This idea had been rolling around my head for quite a while and I was able to finally put it together successfully.  Its wicked delicious and it totally reminds me of the hot chocolate we used to drink growing up.  To get that smooth texture you gotta think one word CUSTARD, and just a heads up NO IT WILL NOT BE HEALTHY, so eat at your own risk


The list of ingredients are simple.
8 egg yolks
2 oz of granulated sugar
3 cups of Whipping Cream
1 cup of Half and Half.
1.5 Disks of Chocolate (I used Ibarra)



 First whisk the eggs until its all smooth, almost frothy then slowly add sugar little by little and whisk as you add it. when I say little I don't mean "Make it RAIIIN up in here" and then whisk, its more like sprinkle one teaspoon, then whisk a bit, and repeat until sugar is done and keep whisking until the yolks are lighter in color and create ribbons when you lift the whisk, DO NOT overwhisk that it makes it look like "Silly-String"

Now its time to get your chocolatey on.  Warm up about 1 cup of whipping cream on a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the cinnamon (left) and chocolate (right) until it dissolves completely, the key here is keep stirring and  DO NOT crank the heat up. You want the chocolate to dissolve only, DO NOT BOIL.  I know you're wondering about this and the answer is YES, I did get a picture of a cinnamon stick mid air.



Once its fully dissolved remove from heat and add to the rest of the whipping cream and the half and half, and warm up until you start noticing  little bubbles building up on the edge of the pot, like pictured on the picture to our right.  At this point remove from heat and set NEXT to your custard base.

Technically there is a large gap between this step (around 140 degrees) and boiling point, but don't be deceived... Water boils the quickest when its not being watched, so remember to keep and eye out.

Time to TEMPER... So tempering is essentially bringing ingredient "A" up to temperature by adding small amounts of a heated ingredient "B" and whisking fast.  So start whisking your custard and don't stop, add about 1/4 of a cup of the cream mixture on top of your custard mix and whisk until its incorporated, then add another 1/4 cup of the cream while whisking, keep doing this until you have about 1/3 of your cream mixed with the custard base (yolks and sugar) at that point your mix is tempered so you can just add it back to the rest of the cream mix and stir to incorporate it all.

Set back up on the stove and warm until your mixture reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit then remove from heat, allow it to cool down to room temperature then churn according to the instructions of your ice-cream maker.

If you don't allow your mix to cool then the ice will melt quicker and it will take longer to churn.  Usually once the churning process is done it has the consistency of soft serve ice-cream, if you prefer the texture of premium ice-cream then freeze for about 4 to 6 hours and that should do the trick.
Feel free to comment or ask questions.  Enjoy it!