Create the Perfect Dark Chocolate Gelato

Dark chocolate gelato — a perfectly chilling indulgence. Craft a dark chocolate concoction that speaks to your soul, or at least your sweet tooth.

The main recipe is just below.
To skip to an egg-free options, jump here
To skip to chocolate gelato and chocolate ice cream mix-ins, jump here.

Choose a Base Gelato – With or Without Eggs

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Dark Chocolate Gelato

Great base chocolate gelato. Add in your choice of [really anything] to make your chocolate dreams come true.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword chocolate, chocolate gelato, dairy, dark chocolate, dark chocolate gelato, gelato

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Refrigerator/Freezer Time 4 hours

Equipment

• Ice Cream Maker with Gelato Attachment (Technically optional)
• Hand Mixer
• Airtight Storage for Freezer

Ingredients

• 3.25 cups milk
• .5 cups heavy whipping cream
• .6 cups sugar
• 3 egg yolks room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder Hershey's Special Dark
• 1 cup chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks
• mix-ins

Instructions

• If your ice cream maker has a removable bowl, freeze it up to 24 hours in advance or per the directions on your ice cream maker

Making the base

• Combine milk, cream, and half a cup of sugar into large pan on medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking
• In a separate, dry, clean bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar until color is a light yellow and the mixture has begun to stiffen; continue watching the pan on the stove top
• Once the stove top pan begins to simmer, reduce heat and add cocoa powder, vanilla, and chocolate; whisk briskly and allow chocolate to melt/combine thoroughly (about 5 minutes)
• Slowly and carefully, add chocolate mixture into egg mixture while continuing to beat the eggs, ensuring they combine fully with each incremental pour, stir until color evens out; *this process may require the use of a heat-proof measuring cup or a friend
• Pour combined mixture back into stove top pan and allow it to cook on low for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches an internal temperature of 170° (160° is supposedly safe but going beyond a bit shouldn't hurt it)

Gelato Making

• Put mixture into a heat/cold safe bowl and let cool in your refrigerator for 2-10 hours (making it colder will help with the freezing process)
• Ice Cream Maker: Follow the general directions for your ice cream maker for gelato. I have a Cuisinart monster that'll just take it from the refrigeration to ice cream in about 60 minutes
• Hand: If you're willing to watch it over the course of several hours, place in a freezer-safe container and stir every hour. Stirring helps prevent it from getting too hard, but this is likely more solid than it would be if you can use the ice cream maker.
• Ice cream makers will give you the gelato in a very pliable state, which is satisfying in its own right. As you remove the gelato from the maker, or get ready to place your bowl in the freezer, you can stir in the toppings of your choice. (Some fun options below)

Freezing

• Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours if you want something that will scoop more traditionally.

No Egg Dark Chocolate Gelato

For those of you who believe that gelato should not include eggs, are tentative regarding the safety of egg-related escapades in the kitchen, or are currently without eggs, below is an option for you:

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Dark Chocolate Gelato II (Without Egg)

Dark chocolate dreams without playing the egg game

Course Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Keyword chocolate gelato, dark chocolate gelato, eggless gelato, gelato

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 1 quart

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups whole milk
• .5 cup heavy whipping cream Or you can keep this as another .5 cups milk
• .6 cups sugar
• 2.5 tbsp cornstarch
• .75 cup cocoa powder Hershey's Special Dark
• .5 cups dark or semisweet chocolate, chips or chopped chunks

Instructions

• Combine milk, cream, sugar, cornstarch, and cocoa powder in a medium to large saucepan. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
• Place on medium-low to medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
• Add chocolate and reduce heat, bringing the mixture down to a simmer, stirring frequently until mixture thickens (5-8 minutes). It should thicken to the point of sticking to the back of a spoon.
• Chill for 2-4 hours
• Follow your ice cream maker's directions for gelato to freeze or place in a freezer-safe container and into a freezer for 4-8 hours, hand-churning every 30 minutes

Mix it up

Mix-in options to level up your chocolate

• Chocolate chips
• Chocolate syrup
• Oreos
• M&M’s
• Coffee Liqueur or Irish Cream
• Mint (extract)
• Mint from leaves
• Dark chocolate peanut butter cups (see recipe below)
• Salted caramel (see recipe below)
• Brownie bits (see recipe below)
• Cookie dough (see recipe below)

Peanut butter cups

Chocolate + Peanuts = wonderful. Skip the store-bought stuff and make your own using your favorite kinds of chocolate and peanut butter. Swirl in some peanut butter while you’re at it. Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Dark Chocolate Gelato:

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Quick, simple peanut butter cups with dark chocolate and natural crunchy peanut butter

Course Dessert, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword candy, dark chocolate, dark chocolate peanut butter cup, peanut butter, peanut butter cup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Chill Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Servings 3 cups

Equipment

• Muffin cups
• Muffin pan

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup peanut butter natural, crunchy
• 1 tsp peanut butter
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate melted
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

• Place 3 muffin cups in the muffin pan
• Melt the chocolate by microwaving in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute, stirring, and heating another minute. Mix in the 1 tsp of peanut butter.
• In a bowl, combine the remaining peanut butter and the powdered sugar
• Place about 1.5 tbsp of chocolate into each of the muffin cups, shaking tin gently side to side to get the chocolate to spread evenly along the bottom of the cups
• Place about 1.25 tbsp of peanut butter into the center of each muffin cup
• Place about 1.5 tbsp of chocolate into each of the muffin cups, shaking tin gently side to side to get the chocolate to spread evenly across the top of the cup, surrounding the peanut butter
• Chill in fridge (or freezer) until chocolate hardens

Salted Caramel

Dark chocolate with salted caramel is a thing. Make it a gelato thing too. For Dark Chocolate Gelato with Salted Caramel:

Brownie Bits

You know what goes with chocolate? More chocolate. Dark Chocolate Gelato with brownie mixed in? Yes, please.

Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

If we’re being honest, this ended up more cookie dough than gelato when I made it, but still. To make your chocolate chip cookie dough dark chocolate gelato, read on:

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

(Almost) no bake chocolate chip cookie dough

Course Dessert, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip cookie dough no bake, cookie dough, cookie dough you can eat straight, edible cookie dough, no bake chocolate chip cookie dough, no bake cookie dough

Prep Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• .75 cup flour cooked*
• .25 cup unsalted butter softened
• .25 cup brown sugar
• .125 cup sugar
• .25 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 2 tsp milk
• .3 cups chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Combine butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl, whipping at least until fully combined or until fluffy
• Mix in pumpkin and milk
• Add flour and stir until almost combined
• Add chocolate chips and stir
• Refrigerate to harden, bring to room temp to soften
• Can keep up to 4 days in airtight container in refrigerator

Notes

• To kill bacteria in flour, spread across a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 350 for about 6 minutes (looking for that internal 170°F again)

Dark Chocolate Dreams

Gelato Maker – The Enabler

Everything changed when I got a gelato maker. We discovered homemade dark chocolate gelato. Dark chocolate gelato is now a household favorite. For my other half, it is the epitome of dessert. For me, it is a simple recipe that’s ready in an afternoon and stays freshly frozen for up to a month to no ill effect. Not that I’ve actually been able to prove that…it rarely lasts beyond 10 days. Homemade gelato is fresher and far more interesting than what you find in the store. The flavor is what pushes it over the edge.

Having the maker greatly augmented my willingness and ability to produce quality gelato and enticed me towards my various icy escapades.

However, it is possible to make gelato and sorbet without an ice cream maker. It merely requires the fortitude to watch over the gelato as it slowly coalesces during its initial stint in the in the freezer. If compelled, try this before acquiring an ice cream machine, because afterwards you will not be as tempted to do so, unless a rudimentary science class or forgotten timer is involved.

About [Dark Chocolate] Gelato

Gelato is a frozen dairy product of Italian origin. Generally, the line between Gelato and its frozen brethren is drawn by density and richness, as well as the higher a concentration of milk in gelato (versus cream in ice cream, yogurt in frozen yogurt, and custard in frozen custard). There are actual percentages involved in the definition of each frozen delicacy, a sort of science that I will be investing some time in researching over the next few weeks my lifetime.

The decadence of gelato derives from the unique balancing that occurs between the flavor components (fresh ingredients or carefully concentrated pastes), sugars, structural proteins, and a stabilizer/emulsifier core (the egg, cornstarch, etc). Gelato’s alignment with our gustatory senses places emphasis on the flavors, rather than the other components, whereas the emphasis on the cream in ice cream dilutes the flavor impact. Good gelato should taste like the flavor rather than merely remind you of the flavor. Chocolate ice cream tastes like chocolate, often milk chocolate. Gelato’s flavor is deep enough to reach a true dark chocolate. That’s not to say you can’t do other kinds of choclate in gelato; but the dark chocolate experience is unique to gelato.

Safety and Ingredients

Eggs

The ingredients in gelato are natural and seem simple; however some care is needed. Recipes with egg require some thought. To err on the side of caution, bring eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, rather than letting them sit out.  Once over heat, allowing the mixture with egg to reach an internal temperature of 160° is necessary. If this is particularly daunting, check out EggSafety.org.

Milk and Cream

The quickest way to turn your gelato into ice cream is to add to mix up your milk to cream ratio. If you understand how whipped cream works, the reason for the flavor difference between ice cream and gelato is apparent; especially if you consider the churning process. The high fat content is key. When whipped, the fat holds onto air particles, lightening and expanding the structure of the cream, moving it towards a solid. The expansion and added air lightens the flavors and detracts from the textural creaminess associated with lower-fat, frozen dairy products.

Sugars

Sugar is what keeps gelato soft, preventing it from freezing fully. Using less sugar leads to icier mixes. Apparently adding sugar alternatives will alter the structure and texture further. Dextrose and glucose are listed on this Italian website as enabling a softer finish, and Saveur lists glucose, honey, and corn syrup as potential alternatives.

Flavors

Gelato is about natural flavors. Here, that means using real chocolate and rich cocoa. I enjoy using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, but any unsweetened cocoa powder works. For the chocolate, I have had luck with semisweet morsels, but prefer dark chocolate chunks (courtesy of a slab of dark chocolate from the bulk section the grocery store).

Once upon a time, Chocolate ice cream was something that I was tasked to purchase selectively. There were parameters for success beyond obtaining the best quality product while staying as low as possible within a given price range. Finding the most chocolate-y chocolate was important. Bringing home fudge swirl when extreme chocolate moosetracks was an option was considered a betrayal. The only thing worse was the day I procure the triple chocolate that white chocolate, which is, apparently, unsuitable.

Gelato straight is great. However, the affinities developed during our time with store-bought ice cream (and purchasing ice cream in the US) has inspired me to explore to what extent add-ins may heighten the experience. I fear that this may be counter to what it is that makes gelato gelato, but I’m ok with that.

This post will continue to grow as I photograph experiments and we venture down new paths of gelato adventure, and spend less time revisiting favorites. Explore and discover your own chocolate dream.