Chocolate Ice Cream Dex+

Honestly, we don't always eat sweets. A pan of oiled and salted veggies roasted until tender are really good, as are many other naturally low fructose and higher fiber foods that don't require any adjustments to be Dex+.

When you want chocolate ice cream (left), this pan of delicious vegetables (right) just doesn't satisfy.

However, when on the way home from a football game with a hot, tired, triumphant marching band member, a potato just doesn't do the trick. The request is "Please, please, can't we have ice cream? There's a shop right there on the way home..." Last year I was ready; with an ice cream cylinder in the freezer, and Greek yogurt in the fridge, frozen yogurt was just a few minutes away at home. 

Then here it comes, "Mom, I want chocolate this time, and tangy yogurt doesn't go with chocolate....."
And of course, she's right. Chocolate frozen yogurt really isn't chocolate ice cream. Back to the drawing board; but I knew a good place to start: Alton Brown's chocolate ice cream custard is delicious, creamy, and rich. Happily, it is also very easy to Dex+. Cook up one batch, split into two mason jars in the fridge, and now chocolate is in the bag too. Another win! Even better, my daughter doesn't mind cooking the custard.

Super creamy, super rich, delicious, amazing chocolate ice cream custard. A little goes a long way, and that's a good thing. Although not really hard, this is a lot more effort to make than the vanilla frozen yogurt; but now and then it is well worth it. For cocoa, we like to use a blend of Guittard's Cocoa Rouge, Hershey's Special Dark, and Hershey's Natural Cocoa.

Chocolate or Vanilla Ice Cream Dex+

Original Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

½ recipe serves five or six

Brown text is for chocolate only; Purple text is for vanilla only. Black is for both.

Ingredients

• 51 g sugar, or 46 g sugar / vanilla sugar
• 224 g dextrose, or 198 g dextrose/ vanilla dextrose
• ¼ c Benefiber
• 43 g unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, or a vanilla bean

Directions

1. Mix the sugar, dextrose, and fiber, then set aside.
2. For Chocolate: Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream.
3. For Vanilla: Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Add split and scraped vanilla bean, if using.
4. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
5. In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine.
6. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat.
7. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F.
8. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.
9. Put ½ a batch per 2-qt ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.