Homemade lavender cocoa ice cream, flavored with dried edible lavender steeped in a custard base of egg yolks, cream, milk and cocoa powder, and full of crunchy dark chocolate chunks.
You might also love these recipes for high altitude blackberry lavender cupcakes, iced lavender lemon shortbread cookies, and lavender honey ice cream.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Simple Ingredients. You only need a few simple ingredients to make a delicious batch of homemade lavender chocolate ice cream that’s so much tastier and more unique than store bought ice cream.
Seasonal Flavors. Lavender is a beautiful flavor to use in your cooking and baking, but should be used sparingly so that it’s not overwhelming. And lavender ice cream with chocolate is the perfect pairing of flavors for summer.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Milk + Cream. You need to use whole milk and heavy whipping cream, which have a high fat content for a smooth, rich, creamy ice cream.
- Lavender. You’ll need dried, edible/culinary lavender. By steeping the lavender in the custard ice cream base, you’ll infuse its flavor into the ice cream.
- Egg Yolks. You’ll only be using the yolks, so save the whites for another baking project (you can freeze whites for later, too!).
- Cocoa Powder. Any type of cocoa powder will work when making ice cream, but I only use Dutch processed cocoa powder for all my cooking and baking.
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the milk and lavender. Over medium heat, bring the milk just to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Let the milk and lavender steep for one hour.
- Whisk in one cup of the cream, along with the sugar, egg yolks, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt.
- Heat the custard over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to steam and just bubble slightly around the edges. Do not let it boil. Note that it will be very thin, and will not thicken at all.
- Remove the custard from the heat, and pour through a mesh strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg and the lavender. Cover with plastic wrap resting against the surface of the custard, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight to let more flavor develop.
- After chilling the custard, use an electric mixer to whip the remaining one cup of cream until soft peaks form. Gently whisk the whipped cream into the chilled custard.
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. During the last minute of churning, add the chopped chocolate and vodka.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to a lidded 2-quart container, and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 8 hours.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
For a more classic lavender ice cream that’s not cocoa based, you might prefer my lavender honey ice cream recipe instead.
The vodka is optional, but the alcohol helps to maintain a smooth, creamy texture since it lowers the freezing point of the ice cream and prevents ice crystals from forming.
Homemade ice cream is best eaten within about 2 weeks.
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Lavender Cocoa Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream (Frozen Custard)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp dried culinary (edible) lavender
- 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream, divided
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 3 oz chopped dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp vodka, optional
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the milk and lavender. Over medium heat, bring the milk just to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Let the milk and lavender steep for one hour.
- Whisk in one cup of the cream, along with the sugar, egg yolks, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt.
- Heat the custard over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to steam and just bubble slightly around the edges. Do not let it boil. Note that it will be very thin, and will not thicken at all.
- Remove the custard from the heat, and pour through a mesh strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg and the lavender. Cover with plastic wrap resting against the surface of the custard, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight to let more flavor develop.
- After chilling the custard, use an electric mixer to whip the remaining one cup of cream until soft peaks form. Gently whisk the whipped cream into the chilled custard.
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last minute of churning, add the chopped chocolate and vodka.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to a lidded 2-quart container, and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 8 hours.
Notes
- The vodka is optional, but the alcohol helps to maintain a smooth, creamy texture.
- Homemade ice cream is best eaten within about 2 weeks.
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