This chocolate gingerbread ice cream is creamy with a kick of spice and plenty of chocolate chunks to keep the chocolate lovers happy.
Some people are serious ice cream lovers.
My brother and sister in law practically live off the stuff and my husband would pass up any dessert unless it’s ice cream (or apple pie).
I like ice cream, but it’s definitely not one of those things I’d be bringing on the deserted island if I had to pick.
Any upstate NY’ers will know what Stewarts is, but for the rest of you, it’s basically a gas station/convenience store that has some pretty epic ice cream combinations of which there is consistently a pint of in my freezer once fall hits and their pumpkin and apple pie flavors come back out.
Besides the occasional spoonful from Ulysses’ bowl, I haven’t had a serving all fall.
But the rate at which my husband eats this high fructose corn syrup laden ice cream finally got to me and I decided to make my own epic seasonal flavor concoction – dark chocolate gingerbread ice cream.
If he’s going to eat that much of it, at least let it be the good stuff.
So I spent the hour making the custard base for this (because let’s be real, ice cream really isn’t worth eating unless it’s a custard base), chilled it overnight in the fridge and the next morning, got the freezer bowl for my Kitchen Aid mixer out and in place and then attempted to get the little plastic piece to actually “churn” the ice cream onto the driver shaft.
And tried.
And tried some more.
Then started getting really annoyed and shoving the thing as hard as I could onto the driver (because obviously brute force would fix it).
After a good 10 minutes of curses, shoving and sore fingers started questioning that the mixer I won back in May might not actually be compatible with the ice cream attachment I had for my old tilt-head model.
A quick google search told me I was right.
When I won this mixer, I purposely checked the manual of the ice cream attachment to see if it would still work, it said it did.
Until I noticed the fine print last week which pretty much says except for model “KSM….” which is exactly the one I have.
A call to Kitchen Aid and $18 later, the two correct plastic parts are on their way…in 10-14 business days.
There was no way I was wasting 5 organic egg yolks worth of ice cream custard though.
Obviously, I hauled ass across town and borrowed a friend’s mixer because what else are food blogger friends for?
So while driving the 2 minutes to Stewart’s would’ve been a hell of a lot easier than the whole process of making this gingerbread ice cream, it was still worth every minute.
It’s super creamy, perfectly gingery with a few kicks of spice here and there from the candied ginger and just enough chocolate to balance it out.
This time around, I’m definitely getting my own bowl.
For more gingerbread recipes, try this gingerbread oatmeal or homemade creamy gingerbread peanut butter!
And gingerbread waffles make a great holiday breakfast, simple yet special!
Ingredients Needed
- whole milk
- heavy cream
- fresh ginger
- brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- egg yolks
- molasses
- salt
- cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- finely chopped dark chocolate
- finely chopped candied ginger
How to Make Homemade Gingerbread Ice Cream
In a sauce pan, combine the milk, cream, ginger, sugar, and vanilla and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off and steep for 30 minutes.
Remove the piece of ginger after steeping and heat again until it simmers.
Whisk the yolks, salt, cinnamon, molasses, ginger, and cloves in a large bowl.
Now that the milk is simmering, take the mixture off of the heat and whisk it into the egg mixture, constantly.
Transfer back to the saucepan once all of the ingredients are incorporated.
Let it come to room temperature then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
When you are ready, add the mixture to the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the chocolate and ginger in at the end of the churning process.
Freeze for one hour before serving.
Tips + FAQs
- When you add the cream to the egg yolks, be sure to do so slowly. If not, you will end up with scrambled eggs!
- This is a great dessert to make ahead of time. You can keep the ice cream base in the fridge overnight then add it directly to the ice cream maker the next day.
- Add a scoop of gingerbread ice cream in between 2 ginger snaps for a festive treat!
- You leave can the chocolate out if you would like.
- To keep it fresh, store the ginger ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer. It’s fresh until you see icy spots on it.
Love this recipe for chocolate gingerbread ice cream?
Try these other decadent ice cream recipes too:
Baileys Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips
Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Ice Cream
Sweet Corn Bacon Ice Cream with Cacao Nibs
Coconut coffee ice cream
Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 11/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 ounces finely chopped dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped candied ginger
Instructions
- Combine the milk, heavy cream, fresh ginger piece, brown sugar and vanilla in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat off once it starts boiling and let steep for 30 minutes.
- Remove the piece of ginger after 30 minutes and return to heat until it comes to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, molasses, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a large bowl.
- Once the milk mixture is simmering, remove from heat and slowly add to the egg mixture whisking constantly.
- Once all the milk has been incorporated into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture, return the entire thing to the sauce pan.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and stir constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- At this point strain the mixture (to remove any egg particles) back into the large bowl.
- Let it sit in the bowl until it comes to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to overnight.
- When the mixture has cooled and you’re ready to make the ice cream, add the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow it’s directions.
- Add the chopped chocolate and ginger at the end of the churning process.
- Transfer to a freezer safe bowl and freeze for an hour before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Silly question but is the fresh ginger peeled?
I try to peel ginger as best as I can before using usually but if some spots are too “nubby” and it stays on, it’s fine.
How much cinnamon? I see it in the instructions but not in the ingredients list.
1 teaspoon. Thanks for pointing that out, the recipe has been updated.
This looks absolutely amazing! I can see myself enjoying gingerbread ice cream…it’s going on the “make this now” list!
I’m not a huge ice cream eater, but his looks too good to pass up
oh my gawd, I love this ice cream!!
Amazing! My husband is an ice cream addict too so I try to make sure to keep some homemade in the freezer for him. And so unfair that you get to live that close to a food blog friend!! I want one :)
Pinned and stumbled <3
How fun that you live nearby another blogger! I wish I did… This ice cream is so stunning, I simply cannot contain myself! Gingerbread is one of my favorite flavors this season and I want to make this now. OR…you can take a quick drive over to LA and drop off the leftovers ;)
I had never considered gingerbread as ice cream flavor until reading this post. Consider me sold!
I used some very dark organic molasses, and it looks just like the picture. But it has an overwhelming (overpowering) molasses flavor. Wife called it medicinal. something is amiss.
Was it blackstrap molasses you used instead of regular? Did you make any other changes to the recipe? There is definitely a molasses flavor but it should not be overpowering at all. I’d try the regular stuff (I used Grandma’s brand) instead of a very dark one.
Wowww.. Woww.. Woww… Looks amazing.. Yummy!!!