Happy St. Patty’s Day weekend!

I hope you are all having a fabulous time embracing your inner Irishman/woman with plenty of corned beef, whiskey, and artificially green food items.

After a brief stint this week with one of those wretched “cleanse” diets (and by stint I mean approximately 5.5 hours), I decided that I’m a much happier person when I partake in mass amounts of carbs, red meats, and of course, heavy cream.

And what better occasion to welcome fatty foods back into my life than with a little St. Patty’s day feast, complete with some Irish beef stew and for dessert, Guinness infused dark chocolate ice cream?

I know I always claim that I’m not much of a drinker, and it’s true. But oddly enough, it occurred to me this morning that alcohol always manages to find its way into my ice cream. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing – since I’ll soon be marrying into a family of exuberant, Guinness-loving Irish people, I figured I needed to keep up my end of the bargain somehow.

I saw this recipe last year and immediately stored it in the “Yes Please” folder of the filing cabinet in my mind. The recipe originally comes from David Lebovitz, His Supreme Majesty of Everything Decadent and Delicious, but I made a few adjustments (such as swapping the milk chocolate with dark and opting for Extra Stout Guinness instead of Draught).

The result? A rich and creamy, slightly bitter ice cream that is the perfect ending to any warm and savory Irish meal.

Don’t like Guinness? Or beer? Leave it out and enjoy a sinfully decadent dark chocolate ice cream.

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.” – Irish Proverb

I hope you all have a safe and happy St. Patty’s day full of family, food, and laughter. And as always, happy scooping 🙂

Guinness Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Adapted from “The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz

Yield: About 1 Quart

You will need:

5 ounces semisweet chocolate and 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
 (can substitute any combination here, depending upon your chocolate preferences – this gave me the perfect amount of bitterness for my taste)

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup Guinness Extra Stout

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

2. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan until it just begins to steam. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warmed mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you go, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer over the chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is melted. Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the cream, followed by the Guinness and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions (or to make the process go faster, freeze the mixture for about two hours in the freezer then put straight into the ice cream maker).

Enjoy!