Rocky Road Ice Cream

Rocky Road has always been one of my very favorite ice cream flavors, and I can’t believe I haven’t made a homemade version before!  I found myself thinking about making some chocolate ice cream, and rocky road immediately popped in my head.  You can use any chocolate ice cream as a base, but I chose David Lebovitz’s Philadelphia Style Ice Cream.  It isn’t custard-based, so the focus is more on the chocolate rather than the creaminess, and it was easier and some days I am all about instant gratification 🙂  Rocky Road usually has plain peanuts, but I thought it would be even better to add chocolate covered peanuts.  Someday (it’s on my list to make soon) I would love to try homemade marshmallows, but it didn’t happen this time.  It was still good and was even better than the store-bought rocky road ice cream!  If you really like add-ins like I do, you might want to increase the amount of peanuts and marshmallows.

Rocky Road Ice Cream
Source: adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 ¼ cups heavy cream

6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up).  Remove from the heat and whisk un the chocolate until it’s completely melted, then whisk in the milk and vanilla.  Pour the mixture into a blender and blend for 30 seconds, until very smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Add chocolate covered peanuts and 1 ½ cup marshmallows during the last minute of churning.

Chocolate-Covered Peanuts

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Put the pieces of chocolate in an absolutely dry heat proof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. In the meantime, stretch a piece of plastic wrap over a dinner plate.

Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the peanuts, coating them with the chocolate. Spread the mixture on the plastic-lined plate and chill.  Coarsely chop into pieces.