Freezer Friday: Happy Ending Ice Cream (Chocolate Stout)

 I finally made the chocolate stout ice cream!  I made mine with Sweetwater Happy Ending, an imperial stout with notes of cocoa, roasted malt, and vanilla.  The beer pours heavy with a medium body.  It has a creamy mouthfeel and is highly drinkable in spite of the high alcohol content.  This is one of my favorite beers.  It's a seasonal, available sometime around January.  Sweetwater has been a bit ahead lately, so maybe I'll get to restock this beer in November.  I'm down to one now, which might need to be another batch of ice cream.  This stuff (the beer and the ice cream) is so good!

 Happy Ending Ice Cream

 

(I forgot to take a cast of characters photo, so just follow along.  As usual, I will post the recipe towards the bottom of the post.)  Whisk 4 egg yolks together in a small bowl.

  

Heat 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  It is warm enough when bubbles being forming around the edge of the pot/pan.

 

In a medium-sized bowl, melt 1.25 cups chocolate chips.  I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips.  You want to use the best chocolate you can find (within reason, of course).

 

Here they are all melted.  It took about 90 seconds in the microwave, but I whisked the chips down every 30 seconds to keep the chocolate from burning.

 

 Whisk the warm milk and sugar into the egg yolks until thoroughly combined.

 

Strain the milk/egg mixture into the melted chocolate.  Straining is important!  You don't want egg chunks in your ice cream.  Straining is gaining.  Or braining.  Or something.

 

Whisk in 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

 

And now for something completely different...add in beer!  You only need 3/4 cup, which is exactly half your bottle.  That means you have to take one for the team and drink the other half of the beer.  I know.  It's amazing, right?  Obviously I'm singing praises to the beer gods for bringing me Happy Ending, but don't feel like you can't make this ice cream  if you don't live in the southeast like me.  You can use Guinness (blah), Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, New Belgium 1554, and countless others I'm too lazy to think up right now. 

 

The carbonation in the beer will make your ice cream base magical fizzy.  Please allow the base to chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight.  Once it's properly cold, churn the base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.  Scoop.  Eat.  Sigh with pleasure.  Tell your friends.  Eat the rest of the ice cream without sharing.  That last one's just me?  Well. . .

 

I thought photographing the ice cream in a Sweetwater pint glass was appropriate.  Don't you agree?  I need to share this on the Sweetwater blog.  I think they'll like that.

 

See those amazing flecks of chocolate?  It's a nice bonus when you shove a spoonful in your mouth. It's kinda like the coffee grounds in the bottom of your cup at the fancy coffee places, but in a good way.  Not in the "crap, the filter fell down AGAIN" way.  And the chocolate melts.  Bad example?  Here's another picture to distract you from my nonsense:

 

This pint glass is from the 420 festival last year.  420 is Sweetwater's flagship brew.  It's a pale ale, but it has more hop than Bud Light or Miller Light do.  OHGAWD.  I can't believe I just wrote those words down.  Ick ick.  Why people drink that stuff I just don't understand.  Sweetwater 420 is much better and it's only $1 more a six-pack.  

 

Ice cream.  I ate a bunch already.  I need to control myself.

 

So..."Don't Float the Mainstream" and make yourself some Happy Ending Ice Cream!

Happy Ending (Chocolate Stout) Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup Sweetwater Happy Ending (or other stout) 
1.25 cups chocolate chips (the darker, the better)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preparation:
Heat 1 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it just begins to bubble on the edge of the pan.  While the milk/sugar mix is heating, whisk egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside.  In a medium bowl, melt chocolate chips in the microwave.  This will take about 90 seconds, but stir the chips every 20-30 seconds to keep the chocolate from burning.  Once the milk is bubbly on the edges, whisk it into the egg yolks.  Next, strain the milk/egg mixture into the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.  Add in the vanilla, heavy cream, and Happy Ending and whisk until combined.  Allow the ice cream base to chill thoroughly before churning it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy!