Dark Chocolate and Cardamom Ice Cream

It was great! Made it in a gelatos maker & the texture was slightly grainy, but still very tasty. I used the whole vanilla pos in the hot milk, after I scraped them. I thought it would’ve been nice to have a bit more of the cardamom come thru - next time I’ll add one more pod. Anyone know why it was slightly grainy texture wise?

• Dream Catcher

• Ventura, CA

• 8/27/2022

This recipe doesn't specify the yield amount or which kind of cardamom (eg. Green or Black). Not really helpful. Iwas just about it make it (with green) but I need to know the recipe yield. :( Serves 6-8 means nothing. Looks like about 2.8 cups, or almost 0.7L. I guess I'll try a triple batch and see what fits my maker.

• .Arkham

• Toronto, ON

• 8/6/2020

This is an excellent recipe. I (modestly) made it even better by adding ~7% by weight of brandy de jerez, solera reserva. Two advantages of adding alcohol: a. the ice cream taste better, b. since alcohol acts as a cryoprotectant, you don't have to use an ice cream maker. If you put the mix in the freezer, it freezes correctly.

• borisitin7496

• New York, NY

• 3/14/2019

What an intriguing variation on chocolate! I love cardamom and vanilla bean together so I had to try this and I found the subtle influence they have on chocolate to be sublime. Apparently so did everyone who tasted this ice cream, because they all asked me for the name of the chocolate so they could get some to eat plain! Some of the previous commenters forget the original intent of this recipe, which is a subtle enhancement of the chocolate. If you can taste the cardamom and vanilla bean then you've added far too much because the chocolate remains the star of this show. That's fine if you prefer to taste the cardamom but I urge new readers to first try the recipe as written so they can explore how cardamom alters the taste of chocolate. It may also be interesting to make chocolate ice cream without the cardamom and vanilla bean for comparison, which is sort of what I did. I already make a fiendish chocolate ice cream so I made it, then made a batch with the cardamom and vanilla bean, and had everyone try each. There is no mistaking one for the other, and both now have a place in my flavor repertoire.

• JackedBanana

• 9/3/2016

Fantastic ice cream. To get the full cardomon flavor add the crushed cardomon pods and vanilla beans when you start to heat the milk. Heat the milk to 140-160F and keep it there for 15-20 minutes. Then turn up the heat and bring it to a near boil, and continue as per the recipe. We used 4 cardomon pods because of the comments that said the cardomon flavor did not come through, not sure if 4 are necessary with our technique to infuse the cardomon into the milk.

• Ernestoguini

• NC

• 5/26/2014

This was excellent - just the right cardamom flavor. Some tips that might help others: Following from other reviews I used 3 cardamom pods crushed well to try and crush the seeds inside the pod too, and left milk, cardamom, vanilla seeds and sugar to infuse for 10-15 mins before adding to the chocolate. During this time the milk cooled, and this caused the mix to curdle when I added milk and cream. I ended up heating it gently over a double boiler to melt the chocolate again and it came back together. Then after it cooled I put it in the fridge for a while before spinning as I usually do with my icecream mixes. This wasn't a good idea - it set up and meant that when I started spinning it was ready in 5 mins and not as creamy as if it was spinning for longer. Still great though, and as other reviewers said, very rich.

• Anonymous

• CA

• 2/14/2013

I agree with some of the earlier reviewers re: cardamom & vanilla. The 1st time I made this, I doubled cardamom and let it sit in the pan for 5 min, and still we could not taste it. This time around, I used half black and half fancy white cardamom (Penzey's) to see if that boosts the flavor. Also took the milk/cardamom/sugar/vanilla mix off heat and let it cool for a minute or 2, then put a lid on it to steep.

• red01

• DC

• 10/19/2012

This is decadently rich, and came together quickly. Didn't have whole cardamom pods, so used 1/8 tsp ground. Couldn't taste it, so next time I'll try 1/4 tsp. I also steeped the infused milk, as nonnagina recommended. As we scraped the last bits from the ice cream maker, husband was already asking when I'll make it again. Soon!

• TacomaFoodie

• University Place, WA

• 9/12/2011

This is a great recipe, but I made one amendment. The 1st batch I followed the recipe exactly and the result, while chocolate-y, had no taste of cardamom and vanilla. For the 2nd attempt,I added sugar, cardamom pods, vanilla seeds as well as the half vanilla bean pod to the pan of milk, and then covered the pan and left it to steep for 15 minutes. Then proceed as normal. If you're going to spend the money on the vanilla and cardamom, you should be able to taste them in the ice cream!

• nonnagina

• Bothell, WA

• 6/24/2011

this was delicious and easy to make. followed the recipe exactly. would definitely make again.

• bratzilla3

• dallas tx

• 4/24/2011

I made this with the raspberry spiked chocolate brownie recipe. Very intense chocolate. Would make again. A little goes a long way.

• creekers

• CT

• 2/15/2011