Chocolate Ice Cream for the kiddies

We recently made a batch of Chocolate Gelato that was to be served to a 12-year-old girl. Knowing that the young ones among us are often less keen on super dark chocolate I reduced the cocoa powder to just 1/4 cup, hoping that would please her. Unfortunately it was still “too chocolatey and not creamy enough”. Fair enough. I take criticism and try to learn from it.

A few months ago my ice cream services were won in a charity raffle, and the winner requested a batch of chocolate ice cream for a kids party today. So I’m trying a new recipe that should be less dark and more creamy and will hopefully please the young’uns. Not wanting to completely eschew our tried and tested Gelato recipe, I’ve made some simple modifications. My experience has shown that adding a pint of double cream to a gelato results in a mixture way too thick to freeze so I got a pint of single cream and I also reduced the cocoa powder right down.

• 7 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 568ml single cream (18% milkfat)
• 550ml milk

The preparation is the same as for normal Chocolate Gelato.

So the verdict?

Don’t take my word for it, because I still prefer the darker richer version.

An eager 10-year-old boy helped me crank, and upon tasting he said it was wonderful. I asked if it was too chocolatey or not chocolatey enough and he said it was just right. Success?

One of the two-year-olds said it was the “best ice cream ever”, but another two-year-old was absolutely frightened of the stuff and cried every time the spoon went near her face. Her mother enjoyed it despite the screaming bairn in her arms.