Low Carb Chocolate Philadelphia-style Ice Cream Base

Chocolate ice cream is probably the most varied of all the popular flavors. Googling for recipes yields wildly different ratios of cocoa, chocolate, and milkfat. Back when I first read the Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, I was surprised to see there were two different formulas provided. Ben used lots of melted chocolate and zero cocoa while Jerry used a combination of cocoa and chocolate. (I’ve always preferred using a combination of the two.) The technique I use for melding the cocoa, cream and chocolate together is from “The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz. It’s basically the same method for making a ganache: Heat the cream, sugar, and cocoa until it begins to boil, remove from heat, and stir in chopped chocolate.

I started this experiment using my Low Carb 11.5% Fat Philadelphia-style Ice Cream Base. The really nice part about this chocolate ice cream is that it’s pretty scoopable right from the freezer. I accomplished this in part by increasing the amount of vegetable glycerine by 50%. I was tempted to call this a chocolate gelato because of its slightly gummy texture, lower fat content, no egg yolks, and lower overrun. I didn’t set out to make this with less air in the end product. All homemade chocolate bases that include cocoa and melted chocolate into the mix have lower overrun. Ice cream machines for the home generally don’t have variable speeds, so there’s no way to compensate for the viscosity. The base already had a higher sweetener content compared to the higher fat ones, but I needed to bump it up even more due to the unsweetened chocolate products being added.

I doubt I will ever make my Low Carb Chocolate French Custard Ice Cream Base anymore now that I have this recipe. This one is much simpler to do. I probably will refine the custard recipe one day based on my experiments formulating this one. I suspect that my past “custom” chocolate ice cream recipes can be standardized to use these bases, too.

UPDATE 2017-06-05: You can substitute the almond milk for Fairlife whole milk and cut the whey and casein to 24 g and 18 g respectively, just like in my regular Philadelphia-style Ice Cream Base.

Ingredients

2 oz (57 g) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups (484 g) unsweetened almond milk or equivalent
1 level scoop (36 g) unflavored whey protein isolate
1 level scoop (28 g) unflavored micellar casein
3 tablespoons (57 g) vegetable glycerin
1 cup (238 g) heavy cream
⅔ cup (66 g) unsweetened cocoa
2½ tablespoons Truvia
35 drops EZ-Sweetz
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Hand Mixer

1. Chop up the unsweetened chocolate and put aside.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add the almond milk, whey, casein, and glycerin to the 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup.
   
   
   
   
   Beat with an electric mixer at maximum speed for approximately one minute.
3. Add heavy cream, cocoa, Truvia, EZ-Sweetz, and salt to a small pot and whisk over a medium-high heat. Keep whisking until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate until it’s completely melted.
4. Pour in the contents of the mixing cup to the pot. Heat on medium to medium-high while constantly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot using a heat resistant silicone spatula. Monitor the temperature. When it reaches 161 °F, lower the heat, start a cooking timer, and keep stirring for five more minutes. Do not allow the temperature get much hotter or cooler. Remove pot from the heat source temporarily while stirring, if needed.
5. Transfer mix back to the 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup and beat with an electric mixer at maximum speed for approximately five minutes. Add vanilla extract
6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for 4-6 hours, but preferably overnight.
7. Remove from the refrigerator. The mix will be thick and slightly gelatinous. Mix by hand with a silicone spatula or whisk before transferring to the ice cream maker. The mix should be homogeneous.

Blender

1. Chop up the unsweetened chocolate and put aside.
2. Add the almond milk, whey, casein, and glycerin to the blender container. Blend at the lowest speed for approximately 20 seconds.
3. Add heavy cream, cocoa, Truvia, EZ-Sweetz, and salt to a small pot and whisk over a medium-high heat. Keep whisking until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate until it’s completely melted.
4. Pour in the contents of the blender to the pot. Heat on medium to medium-high while constantly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot using a heat resistant silicone spatula. Monitor the temperature. When it reaches 161 °F, lower the heat, start a cooking timer, and keep stirring for five more minutes. Do not allow the temperature get much hotter or cooler. Remove pot from the heat source temporarily while stirring, if needed.
5. Transfer mix to the blender container. Add vanilla extract.
   
   

   Failure to follow these directions carefully may result in hot ice cream mix  EXPLODING out the top of your blender!

   
   Stir the mix in the blender with the spatula by hand for at least ten seconds. Quickly put the cover on the blender container. Hold the cover down tightly. Do not cover any venting holes. Turn the blender on at its lowest speed. You may feel a jolt of pressure from the hot air pushing on the cover of the blender container. Blend for approximately 20 seconds. Pour the contents into a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for 4-6 hours, but preferably overnight.
7. Remove from the refrigerator. The mix will be thick and slightly gelatinous. Mix by hand with a silicone spatula or whisk before transferring to the ice cream maker. The mix should be homogeneous.