Mint Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirl

Mint. It's the newest member of my apartment window herb garden. Sounds like an excellent excuse for making an intense mint ice cream. With dark chocolate chips, of course.

{Mint Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirl}

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Roughly 2 handfuls of fresh mint

3 eggs or eggbeater

3 teaspoons vanilla

5 ounces dark chocolate, melted
1 cup mini chocolate chips (for chocolate lovers)

Directions

Simmer milk, cream and sugar over medium heat, stirring to melt sugar. Stir in mint, then remove from heat and allow mint to steep in milk mixture for an hour, at least. After an hour, pour mixture through a strainer, pressing on the mint with a wooden spoon to release as much of the oils as possible. 

Discard remaining mint.

Reheat mint mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla, then whisk in about a cup of the mint mixture. Add egg mixture to mint mixture on the stovetop and simmer until the mixture thickens, about 170 degrees or when the mixture coats a spatula.

Cool mixture, either in an ice bath or the fridge.

When totally cool, make according to ice cream freezer instructions. While it's doing it's thing in the freezer, heat chocolate in a small double boiler over the stove until liquid and shiny. Set aside.

When ice cream is almost done, slowly pour chocolate into the ice cream. The chocolate will harden when it hits the cold ice cream, creating a swirl of chocolate flecks throughout.

Store in an airtight container, placing a layer of wax paper on top of ice cream to avoid freezer burn. Serve with my bitter chocolate sauce.

This isn't your average mint ice cream. First off, notice the non-neon green color. This is all natural. But although it's not green, the mintiness hits you full force before it's cut with the bitter chocolate. Refreshing and delicious.