Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Raspberry is the flavor that marks our early summer here on the farm. While we grow an assortment of fruits and vegetables, the raspberries provide our first significant harvest of the summer. Every year without fail, our raspberry patch provides more than twenty pounds of fresh berries for us to enjoy.
Many of those beautiful red and black berries are eaten out of hand, or used to bake fresh pies. We also work to stock the freezer with enough berries to last us throughout the year while we await the next harvest. Every single berry gets put to delicious use.
Last summer, our son asked me if I could make raspberry chocolate chip ice cream for him. I was happy to oblige. I started by using what I had learned from creating the recipe for our frozen vanilla bean custard and then experimented with working in enough fresh raspberry puree to add just the right punch of delicious raspberry flavor.
I made several batches, making changes to the amount of berries, sugar, and chocolate before I had on a recipe that we loved. Since then, I have made dozens of batches of this ice cream. It never disappoints.
Judging by how quickly this flavor disappears from our freezer, I would dare say that this is our favorite flavor of all the homemade ice creams and custards I make. We never tire of this delicious combination of raspberry and chocolate. I’m willing to bet that you won’t either.
If you’d like to learn more about the tools I use when making this recipe, you can find them right here:
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fresh raspberries
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 ¼ cup whipping cream
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces milk chocolate
Instructions
- Combine the berries and ¼ cup sugar in a small pot. Stir to combine and place the pot over low heat. The heat and sugar will help to encourage the berries to release their juices.
- Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk them briskly until they thicken slightly. Reserve the whites for another use.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the egg yolks, heavy cream, ¾ cup granulated sugar, and salt. Place the pan over low heat, stirring frequently to encourage the sugar to fully dissolve into the liquid.
- Whisk as the mixture warms to keep the custard from scorching as it cooks. The custard will thicken as it comes to a bare simmer, coming to a pudding like consistency when finished. The properly thickened custard will coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Place a fine mesh strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Transfer the warm custard to the strainer and allow it to pass through to the bowl beneath. This will ensure that the custard is completely smooth and does not contain any undissolved grains of sugar or cooked egg. Continue until all of the custard has been strained.
- Transfer the warm berry mixture to the strainer, pressing the berries against the strainer to release all of their juices into the bowl. Add the whipping cream and vanilla extract to the bowl. Whisk to combine all of the ingredients.
- Chill the ice cream base until it is completely cooled. Attempting to churn ice cream or custard before the mixture is completely chilled will result in an unpleasant grainy texture. If you can, allow the custard to cool overnight in the refrigerator. You can also place the bowl of custard inside a larger bowl filled with ice water to hasten the cooling by several hours.
- After the base has cooled completely, process it in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s directions. As the ice cream churns, melt the chocolate in a small bowl either by microwaving in 30 second intervals or by using a double boiler. Allow the chocolate to cool to room temperature as the ice cream processes.
- When the ice cream is nearly finished and has taken on a somewhat solid state, add the chocolate. Drizzle the melted chocolate into the ice cream machine while it is running. The chocolate will solidify and then break into lovely bite size bits with the movement of the machine. Remove the ice cream from the machine and place it in a freezer safe container. Freeze until firm and enjoy every single bite!
This is hands down my family’s favorite ice cream. We have a prolific raspberry patch and it is a wonderful way to use some of our overabundance of berries. I never comment on recipes, but after returning to this one again this morning I felt the need to say thanks!
I am glad that you did leave this comment because you made my day! I am so happy to hear that you enjoy it as much as we do!
Greetings from NYC! This looks delicious. I’m going to go get some raspberries and get started….
I am happy to hear that. Hello right back from NH! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
I made this recipe today and it is outstanding! Instead of melting milk chocolate, I used 2oz from a Hershey’s special dark chocolate bar and chopped it up, adding in the machine two minutes before the ice cream was done. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly and it is a keeper. Thank you!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it as much as we do!
I’m going to try this but wondering why it says chocolate chips when there’s no chips?
I hope that you will give it a try. I find that chocolate chips from the bag are a bit larger than I like when frozen in the ice cream. So, I prefer to add the melted chocolate to the batch of ice cream as it churns. The chocolate freezes, hardens, and then breaks apart into small chips or flakes. The end result is an ice cream that you could call Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream or Raspberry Chocolate Flake Ice Cream. I chose the former as it is the more common way to refer to this type of ice cream. If you prefer, you could certainly add chocolate chips from your pantry.
No matter what you call it, the ice cream is delicious and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do.
My husband found the recipe. We had this kind when I was in the hospital and have been trying to find a recipe that is like that ice cream.. Can the recipe be doubled? My ice cream maker is a Krups and there is plenty of room to add more ice cream.
I am so glad that you found just what you had been looking for! Yes, if your machine allows for a double batch, you can scale the recipe to fit your machine.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
I’m super excited about this ice cream! My mother in law gave us an ice cream maker for Christmas, and I haven’t used it yet. She passed away suddenly and thought I’d better get going on it, so this is my first time using it. The custard turned out amazing, and this is my favorite flavor from a chain. Thank you for sharing!
I am so sorry for your family’s loss. I hope that you will enjoy this batch of ice cream and that you will think fondly of your mother in law every time you make another batch.
Hi! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe! What’s the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream? Is it possible to use heavy whipping cream for both? Thanks!
You could certainly use heavy whipping cream. Heavy cream has a fat content of 36% and whipping cream has a fat content between 30-36%. They will both create a rich and delicious ice cream. I like to mix them, but have made many batches using all one or the other. The flavor will be just as delicious. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
How much ice cream does this recipe make? I’m not good in the kitchen, but would like to try my hand at this for my mother-in-law’s 101 birthday, later this week, for about 20 guests. Given a starting point, I CAN do the math! LOL. This is the only thing she has said she might like to have. At the time, I laughed, thinking that’s not gonna happen with me in the kitchen, but now that birthday is upon us, making it seems to be something she really would enjoy. Raspberry-chocolate-chip is her very most favorite flavor. Your recipe appears to be Heaven-sent. Thank you so much for posting it.
I just love knowing that you would like to make this recipe for her birthday. This recipe makes the amount my ice cream maker will churn which is about 1.5 quarts. If your ice cream maker can handle more, you could easily double the recipe with delicious results. I hope that she has the most wonderful birthday!