Best Chocolate Ice Cream

ingredients
2 C heavy cream
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
5 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 C whole milk
5 large egg yolks
¾ C granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

directions
Warm 1 cup of cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking thoroughly.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 seconds, constantly whisking.  Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly temper the egg yolks by adding a little bit of the warmed milk mixture at a time, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan and whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula, becoming custard.

Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)

notes
From The Perfect Scoop by David Leibovitz.  Makes roughly one quart.