Mexican Cocoa Ice Cream for Cinco de Mayo

I discovered a wonderful new shop, the Savory Spice Shop in Westfield, NJ. It's so much fun. The first time I went there I was overwhelmed and I walked out with only a few things, but I recently went back and bought a whole bunch of fun stuff!

Among my spoils was a bag of Mexican cocoa which I made Mexican cocoa ice cream in honor of Cinco de Mayo with!



I'm still learning how to make ice cream well. I have issues with my custard separating and that seems to make it freeze hard as a rock after processing. But this time I went very slow and I think it came out pretty good!



Mexican Cocoa Ice Cream
From Savory Spice Shop

Yields 1 quart
Note: If you don't have an ice cream maker you can use this method for processing!

3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp. Mexican cocoa
1/4 tsp. cinnamon extract
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar together.
   
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, slowly heat milk to boiling point, stirring occasionally.
3. Slowly pour egg mixture into milk and thoroughly mix together.
   
4. Turn heat to low and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and forms a thick film on the back of a wooden spoon. (Do not let it boil or the mixture will separate)
5. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.
   
6. When cool, transfer mixture to a bowl. Add cocoa and mix in thoroughly.
   
7. Mix in extracts and cream.
   
8. Refrigerate until cold, 1-2 hours.
   
9. Process the ice cream in an ice cream maker for about 25 min, or make sure you have a lot of time and use this method

Happy Cinco de Mayo!