Chocolate Buttermilk Ice Cream

This old family recipe from food writers Eliza Cross Casteneda of Centennial CO, combines chocolate and buttermilk to make a silky, semisweet chocolate ice cream that is out of this world.

8 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Break the chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and light.

Combine the milk and cream in a 2 quart saucepan and cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until very hot but not boiling. With the mixer running, add the hot milk and cream mixture to the egg yolk-sugar mixture. Blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the broken chocolate pieces until they are completely melted. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Cool to room temperature, then cover and chill for several hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Makes 1 quart.

Eliza Castenada is the author of Food Lovers' Guide to Colorado, which was published in 2003 by The Globe Pequot Press.