Rich, creamy and decadent – The ultimate homemade chocolate ice cream recipe. This custard ice cream goes beyond a classic chocolate ice cream and literally is my favorite bite of ice cream ever.
How I created this decadent ganache chocolate ice cream recipe
I remember the best bite of ice cream I ever ate at a chocolate shop, it was amazing and I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since. I’ve tried a ton of different ice cream recipes throughout the years.
THIS recipe is perfection! This is seriously AMAZING ice cream. Creamy, rich, indulgent, delicious… oh and did I say RICH?
I love Chocolate. In fact I believe chocolate is its own food group! Probably my main food group honestly… And within that food group my main consumption is Cake, Ganache and Ice Cream.
I already have a basic chocolate ice cream recipe, and while it’s a great base for my S’mores ice cream, or rocky road ice cream, chocolate peanut butter ice cream and chocolate brownie ice cream – by itself it is kinda plain.
THIS creamy chocolate ice cream is made with ganache for a rich stand alone flavor that I seriously couldn’t love more. It doesn’t need ANYthing else… this is Perfection.
This recipe might sound complicated with the egg based custard ice cream as well as the ganache section of the recipe. BUT I promise it’s SUPER easy, I’ve tried so many Ice cream recipes over the years I have some Custard ice cream tips for you!
Just take me to the Best Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my (very helpful, I think) tips and tricks to make custard based homemade chocolate ice cream, and similar Ice Cream recipe ideas – and get straight to this delicious Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream Recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips for how to make custard based ice cream
I’m all about custard bases for ice creams – it’s a creamer texture vs a more icy texture (time and place for that too, but creamy is my go to.
If using a freezable ice cream bowl (vs ice) Make sure the ice cream bowl is completely frozen – at LEAST 20 hours before making your ice cream – I have a double bowl ice cream maker and keep both in the freezer at all times so I’m ALWAYS ready to make ice cream!
when separating egg yolks crack your egg on a flat surface vs an edge – you decrease the risk of a shell puncturing the yolk
keep the egg whites and make homemade marshmallow fluff or Macarons! I keep my egg whites in tupperware and mark how many egg whites are in the container with a dry erase marker
hand whisk the egg yolks/eggs and sugar (and in this recipe cocoa) until it’s nice and smooth and ribbony. This recipe will start out chunky because of the cocoa but keep beating and it will be perfect
Bring the cream/milk JUST to a simmer, watch the edges for little bubbles
When you simmer the milk keep a close eye on it – don’t get distracted by texting… it’s a MESS to clean up AND you’ll have to remeasure the milk!
Place a damp paper towel below the egg/sugar mixture to hold it in place so you can whisk and pour the milk in a steady stream and beat without a third arm holding the bowls
When heating full mixture to thicken stir with a spoon or spatula rather than a whisk to keep it from getting to foamy. Stir constantly so it doesn’t burn to the bottom but you can keep a slow and steady stirring vs going crazy and burning out your arm.
Always strain the warm mixture when adding it to the cream to get rid of any small cooked egg pieces.
Make sure to chill the mixture ALL the way before running it through your ice cream maker
for a soft serve texture you can eat it as soon as it’s done – if you want a harder ice cream freeze for 4-6 hours.
To make this Rich Ganache Chocolate Ice Cream you’ll need/want:
- 1 1/5 quart Ice Cream Maker
- Quality Bittersweet Chocolate
- Strainer
- Super cool Ice Cream container
- Awesome ice cream scoop
Rich Ganache Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
If you love this Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream as much as I do, please write a 5 star review and be sure to share on Facebook and Pinterest! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love this Ganache Chocolate Ice Cream recipe you’ll love these other ice cream recipes!
Peanut Butter Ice Cream | Strawberry Ice Cream | Pina Colada Ice Cream
Easy Recipe for any ice cream flavor | Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream | Cheesecake Ice Cream
Connect with Ashlee Marie!
The Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream recipe video should be auto playing for you, if not click play on the video in the recipe card. You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Rich Ganache Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 C heavy whipping cream
- 10 oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips
- 3/4 C granulated sugar
- 4 lrg egg yolks
- 1 lrg egg
- 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 C whole milk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Bring the cream to a simmer in a small sauce pan.
- Place the baking chocolate in a metal bowl.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 mins – tip – cover with plastic wrap to help keep the heat in
- Stir it smooth. Set it aside.
- In another bowl whip the sugar, eggs and cocoa with a whisk. It will start crumbly and get smoother as you go.
- Bring the milk to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
- Slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture while whisking the eggs.
- Pour the whole thing back into the saucepan and cook over low heat.
- It will start out very foamy, but as you stir the foam will go away and it will thicken slightly.
- Pour through a strainer into the ganache and stir together
- stir in the vanilla
- Cool in the refrigerator 4 hours or overnight
- Run through your ice cream maker according to the directions (it took mine 35 mins).
- Pour into a container and freeze 2 -4 hours before serving
Video
Nutrition
- Easter Egg Pinata Cake with Chocolate Nest – recipe and video - April 8, 2020
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie - February 3, 2020
- Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto Recipe - February 1, 2020
Kaylynn
OH. MY. GOSH. You’re speaking my language. I’m a firm believer in GOOD chocolate and custard-based ice creams, and this recipe passes the test. I CANNOT WAIT to try this! Thanks babe!
Ashlee
it is as amazing as it sounds, seriously! you will LOVE it! let me know when you try it!
Nancy Siegert
The flavor is incredible but when I strained the cooked mixture I had about 1 1/2 cup wasted eggy mixture. Did I cook it too long? The recipe didn’t give a specific time to cook it.
Ashlee Marie
that happens when it’s not tempered properly. whip the eggs and sugar until creamy and smooth, then very slowly add the hot liquid in a thin steady stream while whisking the eggs. It will heat up the eggs slowly so they don’t turn into scrambled eggs. As for cooking, just cook until it’s thick enough to coat the spoon.
Briton
Oh man. You turned me on to ganache months ago and now this?! It looks amazing!
Ashlee
RIGHT!?!? you will DIE this is so good! I am thinking ganache is going to make it into a lot more of my recipes, it’s so rich and decadent!
aimee @ like mother like daughter
oh my heavens, this ice cream looks so rich and creamy and delicious. I want some right now!
Ashlee
it’s hard following other foodies! Everything always looks so good, and makes me so hungry when I read them! We should do a food bloggers potluck sometime!
Emily DeBry
this looks amazing. i am going to try it for sure. i love ice cream, and anything chocolate! Thank you
Ashlee
you won’t be sorry, it is so so SO worth it! it’s so rich in fact that It lasted longer than most ice creams do at my house! Ice Cream and chocolate are totally favorites of mine too!
Summer
This looks divine!!! My husband would love me forever if I made him this icecream!
Ashlee
yes, yes he would (but pretty sure he’d love you if you didn’t too ;)) let me know what you think when you get around to trying it!
Laura Muir
Well thats some sexy chocolate photography right there! Yum!
xoxo
Laura Muir
http://freshandhappy.com/
Ashlee
awww thanks! I love the dark food pictures, but I’m still getting a handle on it! practice practice practice, right?
katie
Oh my… this looks and sounds divine. I eat ice cream every night and now I need some of this asap!
Ashlee
yes you do, go make some STAT! I love to treat myself with ice cream at night too!!!
Yvonne @ TriedandTasty.com
Hold please… while I clear the drool from my keyboard. These pictures are amazing!! Love! Pinning!
Ashlee
you are too adorable! Thank you so much! ever since your site makeover I want to dig in and play with mine too! and congrats on the new monthly gig! (feel free to pass on my name if they are looking for more foodies, what a BLAST!)
Mrs Major Hoff
YUM! I love Ghirardelli! We stopped there on our honeymoon, so this would make a great Valentine’s dessert! Thanks for sharing!
Ashlee
I agree, Ghirardelli is GREAT! I hadn’t tried this darker chocolate of theirs (my mom loves their milk chocolate in my cookies) and it was amazing!
Lori Neill
Omg i finally found a good custard recipe amd ganache is my favorite. What other custard recipes do you have? Are they all this easy? Where can i folliw your recipes at ?
Ashlee Marie
you mean custard based ice creams? Here are my other custard ice creams – https://ashleemarie.com/pina-colada-ice-cream-recipe-video/, https://ashleemarie.com/almond-cherry-ice-cream-recipe/, https://ashleemarie.com/cheesecake-ice-cream-recipe/, https://ashleemarie.com/vanilla-bean-ice-cream/, https://ashleemarie.com/creamy-peanut-butter-ice-cream/, https://ashleemarie.com/basic-chocolate-ice-cream-recipe/, https://ashleemarie.com/marshmallow-ice-cream-recipe/
Steph @ The Silly Pearl
Ohhhhh yuuuummmm!
Ashlee
thanks so much!
Denise
How fabulous! Yum!!! Love Ghirardelli.
Ashlee
love Ghirardelli too, and it did turn out amazing!!
[email protected]
This looks so good and would be the perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day.
Ashlee
so so SO good! I think this will be a constant at our house, it is easy and tastes SO good!
Dong Lanh
They look beautiful. I’ve never tried making it, but you have inspired me to try. Thanks for the recipe! Welcome to my blog and leave your comment. I am very happily.
Ashlee
thank you for the compliment, but I went to your site and the recipes are all stolen from other bloggers and sites. I am reporting your blog to google, most of us bloggers don’t mind the use of one picture and a LINK to our site, but posting our full recipes and taking credit? that we don’t put up with it is illegal and we will not put up with it.
Kim @ 2justByou
I love chocolate, especially Ghirardelli Chocolate! Pinned it.
Ashlee
Seriously I’ve made this over 4 times since the first time, I am so in love with how this recipe turned out!
John
Going to try you Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream recipe this weekend. Question about the cocoa, any certain kind I should use. thanks
Ashlee
I just used regular ole Hershey’s cocoa!
Kathy S
Hi Ashlee! I was just getting ready to ask about your recommendation on what kind to use and I see you just answered this above on 11/26 : ) DH and I are looking so forward to trying your recipe as we love chocolate ice cream and prefer to make our own but have not yet found the “right” recipe. Yours just might be it! <3
Ashlee
I’m so glad you found the answer! And I hope that you made it and loved it as much as I do! it’s crazy rich, but that’s just how I like it!
Shiran @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet.
It sounds and looks so amazing! I have to try it!
Ashlee
oh I promise, it is amazing
Crystal @HelloCreativeFamily
Whenever I go to my local ice cream shop, I order a double dark chocolate ice cream cone. Your ice cream recipe reminds me of it. SO GOOD!
I included this (and another one of your chocolate recipes) in a roundup I did of decadent chocolate recipes!
Thanks so much for creating such a delicious dessert!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
Ashlee
YAY it is by far my favorite ice cream too! so glad you like it, and thx for sharing
Kathryn Rogers
I need to make enough for a 4 quart freezer. What size did you use
Ashlee
this recipe is for a 1.5 Quart ice cream bowl
Elisheva Dadoun
This is so amazing!! I don’t have an ice cream machine though!!
Is There anyway that this step can be skipped or do something else instead??
Ashlee Marie
nope, you need an ice cream maker to properly crystalize the mixture and for it to become ice cream
Caitlin
At what point do you add the vanilla?
Ashlee Marie
after you add the custard to the ganache.
Lisa engles
In step 6 you say pour milk into chocolate mixture. Took me like 10 mins to realize you meant the egg mixture cause at first reading I assumed you meant the ganache. I knew that couldn’t be right but it took a while to click. Maybe change to read chocolate/egg mixture?
Ashlee Marie
rewrote – thanks for the note!
Lisa engles
Also if you could describe how thick the mixture is supposed to get when you add the milk to the egg mixture and heat it that would be fabulous. And when do you add the vanilla?
Ashlee Marie
when heating the milk/egg custard mixture your looking for it to coat the back of the spoon your using, and when you run your finger through the mixture on the spoon it won’t run back together, but will hold the line, does that make sense?
Melissa Tuttle
Hi Ashlee,
I tried to post this already so I apologize if this is a duplicate..I didn’t see it up here. I LOVED this recipe! It truly is the best chocolate ice cream recipe out there. I wanted to make enough for my 4 Qt. ice cream maker. Would I quadruple this recipe?
Thanks for your help:)
Ashlee Marie
This recipe is for my 1.5 quart machine so yes I’d def double it, maybe triple, but triple might be too much, def not quadruple
Ginger Kekkey
Ashlee, am chilling the mixture now. When you said add the heated milk to the chocolate mixture I got confused and added it to the wrong one. There was 2 you know. I hope it turns out. It looks yummy! This is not a duplicate comment. Never commented before
Ashlee Marie
your right, I rewrote that part, thank you
Mary
Do you have to put in a ice cream maker or can you just put in a bowl and freeze. I don’t have an ice cream maker but would love love love to make this recipe. It sounds so very heavenly
Ashlee Marie
yes you need to put it through an ice cream maker. There are no churn recipes, but this isn’t one of them. the scraping against the ice cream bowl creates the crystallization in the ingredients that turn the custard into ice cream.
akashocd
Wow this cake recipe is so good and delicious, thank you for sharing your Blog
Ashlee Marie
you are so welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Misty
Hello, this looks amazing. I’m fairly new to ice cream making and have a question. could I use half & half in place of whole milk or will it be too rich? Thanks
Ashlee Marie
so half and half is half heavy cream and half milk, so yes it would make it much more rich, there is lots of cream in the ganache so I wouldn’t recommend it. but of course you can, it will just be much thicker/richer (which this ice cream doesn’t really need IMO
Iulia
365 calories are per 100 g or per portion, or?
Thank you!
Ashlee Marie
ummm honestly I don’t know, I don’t count calories, the recipe card I use automatically figures it out. I’d guess per portion?
June Hinkle / The Baroque Baker
This is hands down THE best chocolate ice cream on the planet, While I normally a vanilla ice cream gal ( I make your vanilla bean recipe), on occasion I get a hankering for chocolate. If I’m having chocolate ice cream, it’s got to be this one! Thanks for a great recipe Ashlee,!
Ashlee Marie
You are so welcome June! I’m so glad you love this ice cream as much as I do! it’s my go to for chocolate ice cream as well!
Lori
I got godiva bittersweet amd semisweet chocolate is that ok? Instead of ghirardelli.
Ashlee Marie
TOTALLY! any quality chocolate will work.