Smooth, rich, indulgent, frozen dark Lindt...

wait a minute....FROZEN?
Ice-cream of course....scoops of deliciously smooth creamy dark chocolate chilled for a satisfying summery hot day treat. The weather has been turning pretty warm recently and I have been fully utilizing my month old ice-cream maker to make it worth my $40 *grin* Haha. Its my new favorite kitchen gadget since my set of pink melanin mixing bowls! It's put so many smiles on faces that makes it worth every penny.I've been making a list of "Ice-creams to make" recently, and Chocolate topped that list. It's great that I make cakes and truffles for sale at home; it gives me an excuse to stock up on good quality cocoa products and couveture Lindt....more reason to make stuff for our-greedy-selves just to "test-drive" them every now and then *wink* Make sure the ingredients are of standard *grin* Haha.

1 cup full cream milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
7 oz chocolate (Try to use the best quality chocolate you have. I Love the dark variation with 70%cocoa solids from Lindt)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
6 large egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt

Bring milk, cream, and vanilla just to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan, then remove from heat and keep warm, covered. Place chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Stir together 1/2 cup sugar with water in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and washing down any sugar crystals on side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
Boil syrup, without stirring, gently swirling pan and washing down crystals, until mixture is a deep golden caramel, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and carefully whisk in warm cream mixture (mixture will steam vigorously and caramel may harden). Cook over low heat, whisking, until caramel is dissolved. Beat yolks with salt and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed, until tripled in volume and thick enough to form a ribbon that takes 2 seconds to dissolve into mixture when beater is lifted.
Add hot caramel mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking, then transfer custard to 3-quart saucepan. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until custard is slightly thickened. Force custard through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl with chopped chocolate and let stand 1 minute, then whisk mixture until smooth. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. Freeze custard in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 1 hour.
Makes about 1 quart. Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.comI used the proportions in the recipe and followed its directions fairly accurately...but as expected of a lazy chef like myself, I microwaved my way through most of it! *blush* It still turned out awesome though. The ice-cream junkies of the house licked the tub clean.