the almost success

now it's virgin ice cream. chocolate ganache ice cream, from dorie greenspan. though dorie's recipe doesn't include instructions for non-ice-cream-maker users, nigella's forever summer does. ice creams are typically made from a custard base, which is then churned as it cools to freezing point, so that no large ice crystals can form. the result is a smooth, cold, creamy ice cream.

the ice cream maker would do the churning while bringing the custard to freezing point, but without it, you just have to take the custard out of the freezer every once in a while to beat, until it goes beyond freezing point.

this recipe puts an egg custard and chocolate ganache together to form the intense, creamy, chocolate ganache ice cream.
the ganache component: broken up pieces of random dark chocolates leftover in the refrigerator (including royce chocolate), and boiled cream. i'm beginning to like to make ganache by pouring boiling cream over the chocolate directly. in the past, recipes asked that the chocolate be melted in a double boiler first. now, i've been introduced to the easier way. less set up, less cleaning.
the custard component: egg yolks, sugar, cream, milk. i like the way the cream and milk sits in the black pan: it's like a plain round moon in the night sky. and look at the froth when they boil, it's so cute! anyhow, the same method is used. egg yolks whisked with sugar, boiled milk/cream, tempering, cooking to reach custard stage.
the ganache component and custard component are gently combined, which instantly warms the ganache up. the eggs have to stop cooking or they'll curdle in the residual heat, so what follows is a rapid chilling in an ice bath.
after complete chilling, the custard goes into the freezer to begin the 'churning'. after taking it out every half-hour for four hours to beat, it finally began to look like partially melted ice cream: the grainy look when you spoon it up. then i transferred it into a pretty glass jar. time for the overnight freeze.
after the overnight freeze, the ice cream set firmly. scooping it wasn't that difficult, and the taste? just delicious. the texture is a bit off though; the iciness was noticeable, so i guess maybe i should have stirred it for a few more times. (but it was getting so late last night and i was tired!)