I’ve always loved the flavor of chocolate malt and set about making a malted version of my bittersweet chocolate ice cream. I used maca powder instead of buying malted milk powder (which is powdered milk plus malted barley and wheat flour); I settled on 1 tablespoon maca to 3 cups of milk/cream but you could push it to 2 tablespoons. For an extra-bittersweet chocolate experience, I swapped 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate for the bittersweet in the original recipe.
One optional tweak: Since I have cacao butter on hand for recipe testing, I like to find ways to use it, so I swapped 1 ounce for 1 ounce of the unsweetened chocolate. I think it got me the lower chocolate intensity I was hoping for while preserving the ideal texture. (Don’t rush out and buy it, only use it if you have it around and want to experiment.)
The photo shows the ice cream served with crumbled meringue.
Malted Maca Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate Guittard
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate Guittard or Ghirardelli
- 1 ounce cacao butter or unsweetened chocolate
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 1½ cups whole milk
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon maca powder Navitas Organics
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Coarsely chop the chocolates and set aside in a prep bowl big enough to hold the batch of ice cream, 1 quart (4 cups).
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Combine cream, milk, sugar, maca, and the salt in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer.
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Put the egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. While whisking constantly, slowly pour some hot cream into the yolks (tempering), then add back to the hot cream/milk. Transfer back into the saucepan and continue to cook for a minute or two until slightly thickened and temperature reaches 175°–180° F.
Strain through a fine sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or bowl. Stir in the vanilla.
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Pour just enough of the hot cream/egg over the chocolate to cover it. Let sit a minute then stir with a spatula until completely melted. Gradually add the rest of the cream, stirring until blended and smooth. Transfer back into the glass measuring cup and refrigerate until cool, overnight for best results.
Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream maker.
