Double Chocolate Mint Chip gelato is a rich chocolate frozen custard infused with a hint of mint and punctuated by shards of dark chocolate. With less fat than ice cream, this gelato surpasses traditional mint chocolate chip ice cream!
Why this recipe works
- Gelato has less fat than ice cream, but still has that rich ice cream flavor and texture
- Chocolate is used in 2 ways: in the custard base and later as a mix-in
- Infusing the milk with fresh mint is an easy way to add mint flavor to the custard base
- Drizzling in melted chocolate mixed with a small amount of canola oil produces chocolate shards that are easier to eat than frozen chocolate chips
Making homemade ice cream doesn’t have to be relegated to summer. There are so many iconic ice cream flavors for the four seasons, why be limited? For me, Spring is for mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Hold up…make that chocolate mint chip ice cream, using chocolate ice cream as the base. Or perhaps that should be chocolate mint chip frozen custard (the richer cousin to ice cream).
Wait, I’ve got it…Double Chocolate Mint Chip Gelato. It’s got all the flavor and texture of homemade frozen custard with less calories. Score!
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What you need
Like with an ice cream recipe, you need heavy cream, milk, and sugar for a gelato recipe. Mint and salt are used for flavor, and egg yolks thicken the base into a custard and add richness.
Here chocolate is used two ways: to flavor the custard base, and later to melt for the chocolate mix-in. Dark chocolate has deep flavor, and you don't need more sugar because the gelato takes care of that already. If that's too intense, use semi-sweet chocolate instead.
Why is canola oil used? It's to help the melted chocolate freeze into shards as it's added to the churning ice cream. Believe me, it works.
How to make Double Chocolate Mint Chip gelato
The process for making homemade chocolate gelato is just like that of making chocolate custard. The difference is that you must chill your custard base thoroughly before churning it.
Step 1: Chop the chocolate
Chop the chocolate using a serrated knife (it cuts chocolate better than a chef's knife). Put 4½ ounces (125 grams) of the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and set aside (photo 1). The rest you'll use for the chocolate drizzle mix-in later.
Step 2: Make the chocolate custard base
Combine the milk and mint in a saucepan (photo 2). Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form and it starts to steam, about 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let it steep 20 minutes. Return the saucepan to the stove and heat until the milk is steaming again, but not boiling.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar, and salt (photo 3). Whisk until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved.
Gently heat the egg mixture by slowly adding ½ cup of the warm milk to the egg mixture while continuously whisking. This process is called tempering the eggs. Add another ½ cup of milk and temper the egg mixture again.
Pour the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk (photo 4).
Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat (don't let it boil). Cook until the custard has thickened, stirring constantly, about 4 to 6 minutes. It should coat the back of the spoon and leave a trail when you draw your finger through it (photo 5).
Add the hot custard into the bowl with the chopped chocolate (photo 6). Cover and let sit for 2 minutes, then stir until the custard is smooth. This is just like when making chocolate ganache.
Step 3: Strain and chill the chocolate custard base
Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing on the mint. Put the chocolate custard bowl in a larger bowl filled with an ice bath (½ ice cubes, ½ water, reaching halfway up the sides of the bowl). Stir the custard occasionally until it's cooled to room temperature, around 70 to 80˚F (photo 7). This helps to prevent any bad organisms growing in the custard as it cools.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Chilled custard can be kept in the refrigerator for several days. For the best results, make sure the base is about 40˚F prior to churning.
Step 4: Churn the gelato
About 30 minutes before freezing the ice cream, melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring after 30 second increments. Add the canola oil and stir again (photo 8). Let it cool to room temperature.
Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze per the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream maker I'm using is a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment for a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. If that's not available, this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker does a great job also (photo 9).
When it’s almost done and has the consistency of whipped cream, pour in the melted chocolate with the machine running. Churn until all the melted chocolate has been added and mixed into the ice cream. Alternatively, stop the machine, pour a little chocolate in, and restart churning. Repeat until all the melted chocolate has been added.
Step 5: Ripen the gelato
Transfer the gelato to a freezer-safe container and smooth over using a small offset spatula. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours to allow gelato to firm up, a process called ripening (photo 10).
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
Recipes for homemade ice cream are fairly straightforward. At its most basic all you really need is heavy cream and a sweetener (that’s the base). After that you flavor your base as you please (vanilla beans, chocolate, mint…) and add mix-ins if you'd like (chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallow creme, cookie crumbs).
An ice cream custard base (aka frozen custard) is in the same family as pastry cream (a version of Crème Anglaise for you purists). The benefit is that frozen custards are richer in flavor and have more body than regular ice creams. However, with that added richness comes added calories.
Gelato uses the same frozen custard method, but its base typically has twice as much milk than heavy cream, so it has a lower butterfat content than ice cream. Great flavor, less calories. Win!
Generally speaking, it's better to use mini chocolate chips as a mix-in for ice cream instead of full sized chips. They're easier to chew when frozen.
However, instead of just tossing in chocolate chips towards the end of churning the gelato, it's better to drizzle in melted chocolate mixed with a small amount of canola oil. This technique produces slivers and shards of chocolate in the finished product. This way gives a more pleasant ice-cream-eating experience.
Pro Tip: Infuse flavor with mint
I like recipes with fresh mint because I can infuse the flavor into certain ingredients. When mint and chocolate are paired, the flavors complement each other so well.
For Mint Chocolate Chunk cookies, mint is steeped in melted butter, bringing that bright mint flavor to the cookie without it tasting plastic-y (as I sometimes find recipes using mint extract do). A humble chocolate chocolate chip cookie gets elevated into something sublime.
In a recipe for homemade ice cream, infusing fresh mint into the milk is a great way to add a hint of mint to the finished product. You can even add mint flavor by infusing it into simple syrup (sugar fully dissolved in water). Strawberry-Mint Sorbet is flavored this way.
I’ve also infused mint into heavy cream to make lovely Mint Chocolate Chunk scones. You can get that recipe if you sign up for my weekly featured recipe email. Just click on the button below. So much minty goodness!
Green for mint and green for St. Patrick’s Day
This Double Chocolate Mint Chip Gelato has deep chocolate flavor with a hint of mint underneath. The texture is so wonderfully rich and satisfying, you won’t miss that extra heavy cream.
I made sundaes by topping scoops of this gelato with homemade hot fudge and melted Irish Whiskey Marshmallows. How’s that for a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
This recipe for gelato is easy to make and easy to savor. Give yourself the time to treat yourself to chocolatey minty goodness!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
Related Recipes
Love mint? These recipes feature the bright flavor of fresh mint. And if you sign up to receive my weekly featured recipe email, I'll send you the recipe for Mint Chocolate Chunk Scones. Just click the subscribe button below. Enjoy!
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Recipe
Double Chocolate Mint Chip Gelato Ice Cream
Equipment
- serrated knife
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dark chocolate, (1⅓ cups), divided
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup fresh mint, see Recipe Notes
- 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar plus 2 Tablespoons
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
Instructions
- Make the custard base: Chop the chocolate using a serrated knife. Put 4½ ounces (125 grams) of the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and set aside. The rest you'll use for the chocolate drizzle later.
- Combine the milk and mint in a 3-quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form and it starts to steam, about 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for 20 minutes. Return the saucepan to the stove and heat until the milk is steaming again, but not boiling.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar, and salt. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gently heat the egg mixture by slowly adding ½ cup of the warmed chocolate cream to the egg mixture while continuously whisking. Add another ½ cup of the chocolate cream and temper the egg mixture again. This process is called tempering the eggs, and its purpose is to prevent the eggs from curdling while the custard cooks.
- Pour the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat (don't let it boil). Cook until the custard has thickened, stirring constantly, about 4 to 6 minutes. It should coat the back of the spoon and leave a trail when you draw your finger through it.
- Add the hot custard into the bowl with the chopped chocolate. Cover and let sit for 2 minutes, then stir until the custard is smooth. This is just like when making chocolate ganache.
- Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing on the mint. Put the chocolate custard bowl in a larger bowl filled with an ice bath (½ ice cubes, ½ water, reaching halfway up the sides of the bowl). Stir the custard occasionally until it's cooled to room temperature (a digital thermometer should read about 80˚F).
- Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Chilled custard can be kept in the refrigerator for several days. For the best results, make sure the base is about 40˚F prior to churning.
- Churn the gelato: About 30 minutes before freezing the gelato, melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring after 30 second increments. Add the canola oil and stir again. Let it cool to room temperature.
- Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze per the manufacturer’s instructions. When it’s almost done and has the consistency of whipped cream (after about 25 minutes), pour in the melted chocolate with the machine running. Churn until all the melted chocolate has been added and mixed into the ice cream. Alternatively, stop the machine, pour a little chocolate in, and restart churning. Repeat until all the melted chocolate has been added.
- Ripen the gelato: Transfer the gelato to a freezer-safe container and smooth over using a small offset spatula. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours to allow the gelato to firm up, a process called ripening. Serve and enjoy!
