Intense Chocolate Ice Cream With Sour Balsamic-cherry Sauce

Rich, not-too-sweet chocolate ice cream with tangy undertones pairs with a slightly sour cherry sauce. A taste sensation you won't find at the local ice cream shop! Prep time includes active cooking time, cooking time includes chilling, freezing in ice cream machine and freezer time.

• Ready In: 7 hrs 35 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• For Chocolate Ice Cream

• 2  ounces  semi-sweet chocolate chips (1/3 cup)
• 1⁄2 cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 2  cups heavy cream
• 1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk
• 2⁄3 cup honey
• 3  egg yolks
• 1  cup sugar
• 1  tablespoon vanilla (optional)

• For Balsamic-Cherry Sauce

• 2  tablespoons honey
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 1⁄2 cups sour pitted cherries, in light syrup,gently drained
• 3  drops  almond flavoring (optional)
• 2  teaspoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3  teaspoons  cold water

Directions

1. For Ice Cream:
2. Melt the 2 oz.
3. chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat.
4. To the melted chips, add the heavy cream, buttermilk, honey and cocoa, stirring well to incorporate (the cocoa may not fully incorporate until mixture is more warmed).
5. The melted chocolate may"seize" (or clump up), but as the other ingredients heat, the chocolate will melt.
6. Increase heat to medium, and bring mixture to almost boiling, stirring frequently.
7. This may take 6-10 minutes or more.
8. You may notice small flecks of cocoa in the hot mixture; this is ok.
9. Turn heat down to low.
10. While the cream mixture is warming, with a hand mixer, cream together the egg yolks and sugar until lighter in colour, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
11. This will be a very thick, almost dry looking mixture.
12. Take about 1/4 cup of the hot cream mixture, and add to the egg mixture.
13. Mix until combined.
14. Slowly add the slightly warmed egg mixture into the cream mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the egg from being cooked too quickly.
15. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 3 or 4 minutes.
16. Mixture will still be liquid in appearance.
17. Chill this custard completely, either in the fridge overnight, or over an ice bath for about 30 minutes.
18. Make sure custard is cool.
19. Freeze in an ice-cream machine as recommended by your owner's manual.
20. (N. B. In my Cuisinart Ice cream machine, it to about 35- 38 minutes before ice crystals started to show. This is longer than recommended. Even then, it was still very thin.).
21. Put the soft ice cream in a container in the freezer.
22. For the first couple of hours, stir every hour to make sure the ice crystals are being distributed.
23. Freeze at least six hours or overnight.
24. This ice cream has a softer texture than some other home-made ice creams.
25. For the Sauce.
26. In a small saucepan, combine the honey and the 1/2 cup water.
27. Warm this mixture over medium heat until honey is dissolved.
28. Add the cherries.
29. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
30. Turn the heat down to medium-low.
31. Add the almond flavouring and the balsamic vinegar.
32. Simmer for about 1 minute.
33. Mix together the cornstarch and the 3 teaspoons cold water together in a small dish/glass.
34. Stir into cherry mixture.
35. Simmer about 3-5 minute, or until slightly thickened.
36. (This is a thin sauce, you may thicken it up with more cornstarch/water slurry if you want) Serve over chocolate ice cream either warm or chilled.