Chocolate Mint Marshmallow Ice Cream

My younger daughter tasted Ben & Jerry's Minter Wonderland Ice Cream. That B&J flavor consists of mint chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and chocolate cookie crumbs. Except the ice cream wasn't minty enough for her. And the cookie crumbs weren't chocolatey enough.

She knew we could do better. That's how this copycat Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Mint Marshmallow Ice Cream was born!

Ice cream vs frozen custard

There are two ways to make a homemade ice cream recipe. The first one involves taking a chilled sweetened cream base and...uhm...freezing it.

That's right, if your ice cream maker is ready (mine needs to be chilled for 15 hours before use), then you can combine milk and cream, flavor and sweeten it as you prefer, and churn away (even adding in mix-ins if you'd like). You'll have ice cream in about 30 minutes. Add in the chilling time required to firm it up, about 2 to 4 hours, for a total time of about 4½ hours.

What this technique produces is a good ice cream. By the way, this is also how sherbet and sorbet are made, albeit with different bases.

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If you want great ice cream, then you'll want to go with the second way, making a frozen custard. Is frozen custard the same as ice cream? Almost.

The difference between ice cream and custard is that you make a crème anglaise custard (aka vanilla sauce) in the flavor you want, thoroughly chill it (usually overnight), then churn it. What this technique gives you is a rich custard base, and a richer final product. This method is how I make my Caramel Swirl Almond Gelato and Double Chocolate Mint Chip Gelato.

After creating a base, you can add all sorts of mix-ins while churning, and that's where you can really start getting creative!

What you need

Like with any ice cream recipe, you need heavy cream, milk, and sugar. Mint and salt are used for flavor. In a frozen custard recipe, egg yolks thicken the base into a custard and add richness.

Chocolate is used in two different forms in the chocolate custard: Dark Cocoa Powder and Dark Chocolate. You can use regular cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate if you prefer.

For the mix-ins, there's homemade Marshmallow Creme (aka Marshmallow Fluff) and homemade Chocolate Cookie Crumbs. Store-bought is fine to use also, if you prefer.

How to make ice cream from custard

The process for making a rich homemade chocolate ice cream is just like that of making a chocolate custard recipe. The difference between ice cream and custard is that you must chill the base thoroughly before churning it.

Step 1: Make the chocolate custard base

Combine the heavy cream 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.

Strain out the mint leaves using a fine mesh strainer, pressing the liquid through the leaves to extract all the mint flavor (photo 1). Return the mint-flavored heavy cream to the saucepan and heat until it's steaming again, but not boiling.

Add the milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt (photo 2). Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is steaming with small bubbles forming, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gently heat the egg yolks by slowly adding ½ cup of the warmed chocolate cream to the egg yolks while continuously whisking. Add another ½ cup of the chocolate cream and temper the egg yolks again (photo 3).

This process is called tempering the eggs, and its purpose is to prevent the eggs from curdling while the custard cooks.

Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted, although the custard doesn't have to be completely smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract (photo 6).

Cool the base using 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.

Step 2: Churn the ice cream

The ice cream maker I'm using is a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Another good option is a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.

Stir the chilled custard well. Transfer to an ice cream maker and begin to freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. The volume of the base will increase as it freezes (photo 7).

Questions asked and answered

Here are some questions you might have...

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 Double Chocolate Mint 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 peppermint 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 or cream 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!

Homemade ice cream is definitely better

This is more than just chocolate marshmallow ice cream. It has a deep chocolate flavor with lovely minty undertones. It's rich and smooth, with a creamy texture and mouthfeel. The marshmallow creme is chewy, and the cookie crumbs add a chocolatey crunch.

Overall, a flavor and texture tour-de-force.

Another benefit to making a homemade ice cream recipe rather than buying some is that it doesn't contain all the emulsifiers and stabilizers and the like. That in itself makes it better.

I'm glad my daughter inspired us to make this chocolate frozen custard recipe. Are you ever inspired to make a copycat ice cream recipe? You can make it better!