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French Silk Ice Cream

French silk ice cream made with a cooked chocolate custard, double-boiler melted chocolate, and a soft-peak cream fold for a mousse-like frozen texture. This silky chocolate frozen dessert is glossy, intensely rich, and deeply bittersweet.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chocolate custard base
  • 2 cup heavy cream divided: 1-1/2 cups heated + 1/2 cup whipped later
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 6 oz dark chocolate (70%) finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven
  • 1 cast iron skillet
  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Melt chocolate and make custard
  1. Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler until smooth, then set aside off the heat for later.
  2. Heat 1-1/2 cups cream, whole milk, and unsweetened cocoa powder until steaming, then slowly whisk this hot mixture into egg yolks beaten with granulated sugar.
  3. Return the chocolate custard mixture to the saucepan and cook while stirring until it reaches 175F, then remove from the heat.
  4. Whisk the melted dark chocolate into the hot custard until fully smooth and glossy, then stir in vanilla extract and salt.
  5. Strain the custard and cool completely so it’s ready for whipping and folding.
Chill, churn, and freeze
  1. Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream to soft peaks.
  2. Fold the soft-peaked cream into the cooled chocolate custard until no streaks remain for an ultra-silky mousse texture.
  3. Refrigerate for 4 hours, then churn in an ice cream maker and freeze until firm.

Notes

Pro tip: cook the custard to 175F and whisk constantly to prevent scrambling—then cool completely before folding so the mousse texture stays smooth. Refrigerate the churned ice cream 3 days; freeze up to 2 months (best texture within 1 month). For a lighter option, use half-and-half in place of some cream, but expect slightly less richness and a softer set.