Chocolate-Ribboned Peppermint Ice Cream by Bridget

This may sound strange, but I love ice cream in the winter. Something about a hat, gloves, scarf, and a cold ice cream cone just seems right.

 
 

Now that Christmastime is near, this ice cream is exactly what Santa ordered—a creamy, vanilla peppermint base, swirled with thick ribbons of dark chocolate-peppermint fudge sauce, and speckled with crushed peppermint candies. The candies don’t get hard in the ice cream; they stay delightfully crunchy but easy to bite.

 
 

You’ll start off making the dark chocolate-peppermint fudge sauce. It’ll need some time to thicken while you make the ice cream base. It all begins with butter and bittersweet chocolate chips (as all recipes should).

 
 

Sugar and cocoa are whisked together and then added to the melted butter and chocolate mixture. After cooking, cream is added to the mix and it get cooked a bit more to thicken.

 
 

Once thickened and smooth, vanilla and peppermint extracts are added. A BIG note about peppermint extract: be sure to buy peppermint, not just mint, or your ice cream might end up tasting like chewing gum. That’s not what we’re going for here.

 
 

Place the fudge sauce in a container, cover, and refrigerate while you make the ice cream. It ends up looking like this. Oh my goodness. (Hide all of the spoons in your house.)

 
 

Next up is the ice cream. Chop up lots of peppermint candies. I find it easier to chop with a knife first, then use a muddler to crush the pieces a bit more. You want some chunks that show the pretty red and white stripes, but don’t discard the teeny tiny bits and shards of peppermint. They’ll be perfect throughout the ice cream.

 
 

To make the cream, start by whisking an egg, egg yolks, and sugar. Half-and-half is heated until simmering, then slowly whisked into the egg mixture to temper the eggs. The whole shebang gets heated again until thickened.

 
 

It coats the back of a wooden spoon so beautifully.

 
 

For extra insurance against curdled eggs, pour the mixture through a strainer.

 
 

The remaining half-and-half, cream, and extracts are stirred in at this point.

An important step in making ice cream is to chill the cream mixture before freezing. Give it at least an hour or two in the fridge. Overnight is perfectly fine as well.

Process until almost finished, then add in the crushed peppermints.

 
 

Spoon the soft ice cream into containers, adding in dollops of the fudge sauce as you go.

 
 

Oh baby.

 
 

Cover the ice cream and freeze for 4 hours or more until hardened and scoopable.

 
 

Does homemade ice cream in a simple container tied with twine make the sweetest gift, or what? The recipe makes 1 and a half quarts, so it’s perfect for dividing into pint containers for giving. But, be sure to keep one for yourself.

 
 

If you think you might be on the naughty list this year, set out a pint of this ice cream with Santa’s cookies. It’ll be sure to sway his decision!

Here’s the link to the printable recipe on Tasty Kitchen: Chocolate-Ribboned Peppermint Ice Cream