With the weather finally warm, it’s a perfect time for mint ice cream. This is a flavour that helped define my childhood – it was definitely my favourite for many years. It’s fresh and cooling, smooth and has a bit of chocolate for a satisfying crunch. It’s also one of the flavours you will find in our book!
I’m such a mint fan, that I like mint in just about anything. There are two types of mint growing in my garden, even though I’m not much of a gardener, and on a summer’s day I relish a minty treat of some description or a cooling drink made with the fresh leaves. If you have mint in your own garden, pick some for this recipe. If not, buy a bundle of fresh mint. Mint extracts are extremely volatile, difficult to control, and generally too aromatic for the palate, so fresh mint is definitely my recommendation.
Murphys Mint Ice Cream with Chocolate Shavings
Ingredients:
- 130g sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 240 ml cream
- 220 ml milk
- 10 g fresh mint leaves
- 20 g chocolate
What to do:
- Put the mint and the milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from the heat.
- Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
- Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream. Don’t worry if bits of mint go in as well.
- Pour the mixture back into the pan, with the mint still in it, and place over low heat.
- Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
- Immediately remove from the heat.
- Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C).
- Use a sieve to strain and remove the mint leaves.
- Create chocolate shavings using the chocolate and a grater or vegetable peeler.
- Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
- Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
- Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, adding the chocolate shavings when it’s fairly solid.
- You can also just cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours, and again, add the chocolate shavings when it’s reasonably solid.
If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.
Notes:
- To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.
- Instead of creating chocolate shavings, you can also melt the chocolate and pour it into the ice cream machine as its turning.
That looks amazing. Chocolate and mint go so well together.
It’s cold here in Sao Paulo today and I’d like to have this ice cream anyway! 🙂
Mint is my number 1 favorite ice cream!
Yummy!!
Recipe sounds easy enough…I think I will give it a go 🙂
~kimme
Had you considered using a herb called chocolate mint? I grow it in my herb garden and it has a warm mint flavor with a creamy chocolate finish, it would be perfect for this recipe. I use it in a Stout/ chocolate mint recipe at home. Are all your ice creams custard based? How do you come up with flavors? suggestions? My wife and I will be visiting Ireland this summer and are looking forward to trying Murphys Ice Cream at both locations. I am a FAN-ADDICT of all things ice cream:-)
Great blog….keep up the good work!
Thanks Dianne and Patricia!
Let me know how you get on, Kimme.
Is that for real, Michael? I have never heard of such a thing! Pack a sprig of it when you come, and I’ll trade it for an ice cream. Our ice creams are custard based, except our sorbets, which are sorbets!
On a slightly different tack, might this work using peppermint tea (or mint tea bags) or is there something in the peppermint which doesn’t work flavour-wise.
Also, given that mint offsets strawberries so well, would adding strawberries to the mix work? (too early in the year I know)
Indeed I am Kieran, and you’ve got yourself a deal. I just found it this spring (spring here in Alabama, USA starts about early March) at a garden show and bought a couple of sprigs and planted them post haste. I believe it is a new variety within the last couple years. It has more of a muted clean mint flavor while at the same time giving almost a smooth creamy warm chocolately mouth feel. As soon as I saw/ tasted it at the garden show I knew I had to have it for the Stout recipe.
Hopefully they will let me bring it through in my checked bag. The good folks in airport security and customs are sometimes not as enthusiastic about the pursuit of the perfect ice cream. I have put in a message to an herb grower in Ireland to see if they can help me out. I’ll be in touch….just think “Chocolate Mint Candy” in the meanwhile!
Go raibh maith agat.
Mike
What a wonderfully refreshing ice cream, perfect for hot summer days and cool summer evenings alike 🙂
Michael you’re right chocolate mint is gorgeous 😉
Thank you for your big help for my suddern visit with the Japanese TV crew on Fri!
You could at least see the pictures on my blog!
http://naokoguide.blog33.fc2.com/blog-entry-668.html
Top page….http://naokoguide.blog33.fc2.com/
Look forward to tasting your ice cream again in Killarney / Dingle. In the meantime, I enjoy your fantastic blog!
I lovvvve that you used REAL mint in the recipe, brilliant!
I heard of the chocolate mint before, my Mom grew some when I was living at home if I recall correctly. In fact I’m sure there are other mint *flavours* that can be grown.
I used to avoid mint ice cream like the plague because it made me think too much of toothpaste, however as my tastebuds matured, even if I didn’t, I have grown quite fond of it and can not believe I never considered making REAL mint ice cream before……..
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ice cream recipe. I can’t wait to try. It is perfect time for making ice cream here in Arizona.
The ice cream looks tempting… How do you achieve off-white color for the ice cream? Mine is always yellow, and I’m quite sick of it…. I cooked the custard for 30 min or more. Is that the expected time requied?
Thanks, everyone! SF – maybe your eggs are yellower than ours? We do homogenise our custard, which will lighten the colour. Also, if you whip the cream and fold it in, it should also give you a white colour. As for cooking it – bring it to 73C (use a good thermometer) and hold it there for 3-5 minutes, then immediately remove from the heat, or you will get quite a cooked taste.
Thanks, Kieran. Will get a thermometer one day and try again.
There’s a local ice-cream store here that sells lychee martini ice-cream. The taste is refreshing. You may want to give it a try. Not sure if fresh lychees are available in Ireland. An alternative would be canned ones from Thailand or China. I used the latter with vodka. Not too bad except it’s a tad milkier than the ones I bought from the ice-cream store.
Hi — I made this recipe to christen my new ice cream maker. However, metrics aren’t my strong point, so I guessed at the amount of mint. The result was sort of a bitter aftertaste. Any suggestions? I didn’t mince the leaves, used about 8 leaves total. Thermometer was an excellent idea. I also reduced the egg yolks to 4 since we use extra large size eggs. I finely grated the chocolate, which was too small (no strong chocolate taste, just a hint of flavor). Otherwise the ice cream was successful and devoured by my husband and son in about 2 sittings.
There are so many types and strengths of mint, that it’s hard to say. Try using just the leaves, leaving away the stalks. The chocolate should be coarsely grated.
For metric conversions, try this helpful site: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cookingconversions.asp?Action=find
I hope that’s helpful!