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French-Style Double Chocolate Ice Cream

French style chocolate ice cream made with a cooked, glossy chocolate custard base that turns deeply fudgy and almost ganache-like as it freezes. This rich chocolate frozen recipe melts dark 70–72% chocolate into warm custard, then chills, churns, and freezes for a dense, dark chocolate ice cream finish.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours 15 minutes
Total Time 5 hours
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French-American
Calories: 560
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chocolate custard base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 6 oz dark chocolate (70-72%) finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Equipment

  • 1 double boiler
  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Melt chocolate
  1. Melt the dark chocolate and unsalted butter over a double boiler, stirring until smooth; set aside so it stays warm but glossy.
Heat dairy with cocoa
  1. Whisk the Dutch process cocoa powder into the heavy cream and whole milk, then heat to steaming, stirring until fully combined and thickened slightly around the edges.
Temper and cook custard
  1. Whisk the steaming cream mixture slowly into the egg yolks and granulated sugar, then return everything to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175°F and coats the back of a spoon.
Build the chocolate custard
  1. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately whisk in the melted dark chocolate until the mixture turns glossy and smooth.
Season and strain
  1. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt, then strain through a fine mesh sieve to ensure a silky texture.
Chill, churn, and freeze
  1. Cool completely over ice, then refrigerate for 4 hours before churning in an ice cream maker.
  2. Freeze the churned ice cream until firm, then scoop and serve with a glossy, dense chocolate texture.

Notes

Pro tip: When cooking the custard, keep stirring so it thickens evenly and reaches 175°F without scrambling. Refrigerate the finished churned mixture up to 2 days if you’re eating soon; freeze leftovers up to 2 months (best texture within 1 month). For a dairy swap, you can try a full-fat coconut milk + oat milk blend, but the custard may be slightly less silky than with dairy.