Chocolate Sourdough Ice Cream (Printable Version)

Rich chocolate meets tangy sourdough in this creamy frozen delight

# What You Need:

→ Ice Cream Base

01 - 1 1/2 cups whole milk
02 - 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
03 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
04 - 4 large egg yolks
05 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Chocolate Mixture

06 - 4 oz dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
07 - 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

→ Sourdough Addition

08 - 1/2 cup active sourdough starter (unfed/discard, room temperature)

# How to Make It:

01 - In a medium saucepan, whisk together the whole milk, heavy cream, and half of the granulated sugar. Warm gently over medium heat until the mixture begins to steam, avoiding a full boil.
02 - In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and salt until the mixture turns pale and reaches a creamy consistency.
03 - Slowly pour the hot dairy mixture into the yolk bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly to gradually raise the temperature without scrambling the eggs. Return the combined mixture to the saucepan.
04 - Cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer.
05 - Remove the saucepan from heat. Add the chopped dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder, stirring until the chocolate melts completely and the mixture is smooth.
06 - Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any lumps. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
07 - Once the base has cooled, whisk in the sourdough starter until it is fully blended and no streaks remain.
08 - Cover the bowl and refrigerate the ice cream base for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, to ensure it is thoroughly chilled.
09 - Pour the chilled base into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency.
10 - Transfer the churned ice cream to a lidded storage container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving to allow it to set properly.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The tang from sourdough discard cuts through the richness of chocolate in a way that makes each spoonful impossible to put down.
  • It uses up that discard you keep feeling guilty about throwing away, turning waste into something genuinely special.
02 -
  • If your custard gets too hot and starts looking scrambled, immediately pour it through a sieve and keep going because most small curdles will strain out.
  • The sourdough flavor intensifies slightly after freezing, so the tang you taste in the liquid base will be a bit more pronounced in the finished ice cream.
03 -
  • Use discard that has been sitting out for a day or two rather than freshly fed starter because the tangy flavor you want develops as the starter ages and goes unfed.
  • Freeze your storage container for thirty minutes before transferring the churned ice cream into it so the base stays cold and firms up faster.

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