Stellar-Cappuccino Chocolate Ice Cream

One of the rewards for being a Foodbuzz featured publisher is being a taste tester. We get the awesome opportunity to taste new products and review them. So I give you a BIG thank-you for giving me the delicious chance to sample illy issimo. I enjoyed Caffe - Italian Espresso Style Coffee Drink, Latte Macchiato - Italian Espresso Style Coffee Drink, and Cappuccino - Italian Espresso Style Coffee Drink.

They are all delicious, straight from the refrigerator. But the Cappuccino, incorporated into a chocolate ice cream recipe, is amazing!!! This is, without question, the absolute best chocolate ice cream I have ever eaten. And I certainly have eaten enough to guarantee that the previous statement is statistically accurate. Smooth, creamy, and the most intense chocolate and coffee flavor you will ever find in an ice cream.

Makes about 1 quart

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup illy issimo Cappuccino - Italian Espresso Style Coffee Drink
¾ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the 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.

2. Warm the cappuccino, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). 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.

4. 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.)