Calling all chocolate lovers!! This homemade Rocky Road Ice Cream is truly the BEST! Rich and decadent chocolate ice cream loaded with mini marshmallows and salted roasted almonds! Swoon…
Do you remember going to Thrifty’s (known as Rite Aid today) to grab ice cream as a kid? It was the best! One of my favorite flavors growing up was Rocky Road! I just love all the textures. Creamy chocolate ice cream, with soft pillowy marshmallows and chunky crunchy almonds. It doesn’t get more perfect than that!
Now as an adult, I appreciate artisan ice creams more than ever, especially custard style ice creams. When I created this recipe, I knew l wanted to keep the flavor profile as close to the original as possible. My goal was only to elevate the flavor and I’m SO happy with how it turned out. It’s absolutely DELICIOUS! It’s one of my favorite recipes. It’s so rich, thick and creamy! And with only 10 ingredients, you’ll have the best homemade ice cream ever.
INGREDIENTS
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Milk – Always use whole milk for homemade ice cream. It will result in a creamier ice cream.
- White Sugar – The sugar will be divided. ½ cup (100 grams) will be added to the base cream/milk mixture and the 2 tablespoons (24 grams) will be added to the yolks.
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder – I recommend using dutch process cocoa powder because the chocolate flavor is more intense.
- Salt – Just a little to balance out the flavors.
- Egg Yolks – My recipes uses 5 large yolks, but you can use less. The more eggs you use, the more rich it will be.
- Bittersweet Chocolate – I used a 60% bittersweet chocolate. I would not recommend using milk chocolate because it can be a little too sweet.
- Vanilla Extract – Real vanilla extract will yield a better taste.
- Mini Marshmallows – You can’t have rocky road ice cream without mini marshmallows. My recipe calls for a rounded ½ cup, but you can add as much as you’d like!
- Roasted Almonds – I used lightly salted roasted almonds. The tiny bit of salt rounds out the sweetness. Again, this recipe calls for ½ cup, but you can add more or use less. You can even use roasted peanuts or hazelnuts if you don’t like almonds. Just make sure they are roasted.
HOW DO YOU MAKE ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM?
1. Add cream, milk, cocoa powder, sugar and salt to a pot.
2. On medium/low heat, simmer mixture to 170ºF (76ºC). Whisking periodically.
3. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate in the microwave or double boiler and set aside to cool.
4. With a hand held mixer, beat yolks and 2 tablespoon of sugar on high. The mixture will thicken and become a pale yellow after about 2 minutes.
5. Add the cooled melted chocolate to the yolks and mix to combine. Make sure the chocolate isn’t too hot, we don’t want to scramble the eggs.
6. Once the cream/milk mixture reaches 170ºF (76ºC), turn the heat off. We will temper the yolks next. Slowly add ¼ cup (56 grams) of the warm cream/milk mixture to the yolk/chocolate mixture and whisk vigorously. Repeat 3 more times.
7. Combine the tempered yolk/chocolate mixture to the remaining cream/milk mixture in the pot. Whisking vigorously. Turn the heat back onto medium low and simmer until 170ºF (76ºC) again.
8. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
9. Strain the custard into a clean bowl to ensure a smooth mixture.
10. Place plastic wrap directly onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill overnight.
11. After chilling, the mixture with be thick like a pudding. In fact, you can eat this as is! We basically made chocolate pot de creme!
12. Churn and add almonds and marshmallows when ice cream thickens. My ice cream machine takes about 10 minutes to completely churn.
13. Transfer to a container and freeze for at least 6 hours.
Dig in and enjoy!
I know homemade ice cream may seem like a lot of work, but it’s one of the most rewarding experiences and definitely worth it. Once you know the basics of making ice cream, you can create so many different flavors. I hope you give this amazing recipe a try. I ADORE this ice cream so much and I know you will too!
Measuring By Weight
Measuring ingredients by weight, rather than by volume, is the most accurate way to bake. Unfortunately, not all measuring cups are created the same, so your one cup will be different from my one cup. Additionally, there are measuring cups that are specifically designed for liquid and for dry ingredients. I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients to prevent any inaccuracies. For your convenience, my recipes are written in grams, with the exception of teaspoons/tablespoons, to ensure your bakes come out perfect every time!
If you would like to learn more about measuring by weight, you can refer to King Arthur’s ingredient weight chart.
MORE ICE CREAM RECIPES
Recipe
ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM
- Total Time: 20 minutes for the base, 8 Hours of Chilling & 6 Hours of Freezing
- Yield: 1.5 Quarts 1x
Description
This homemade Rocky Road Ice Cream is truly the BEST! Rich and decadent chocolate ice cream loaded with mini marshmallows and salted roasted almonds!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups (1 pint or 473 grams) Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 ¼ Cups (300 grams) Whole Milk
- ½ Cup + 2 tablespoon (100 grams + 24 grams) Granulated White Sugar, divided
- ¼ Cup (25 grams) Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 5 Large Egg Yolks
- 6 Oz (170 grams) Bittersweet Chocolate, melted
- ½ Cup (70 Grams) Roasted Almonds, roughly chopped
- ½ Rounded Cup (32 Grams) Mini Marshmallow
Instructions
- On medium/low heat, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar (½ cup or 100 grams), cocoa powder and salt in a medium sized pot to 170ºF (76ºC). Remember to whisk periodically, while moving on to the next steps.
- Meanwhile, melt your chocolate and set aside and let cool.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk yolks and 2 tablespoons (24 grams) of sugar until it thickens and becomes pale in color.
- As soon as chocolate cools down a little (okay if it’s still a little warm), combine with yolk mixture.
- When the cream/milk mixture reaches 170ºF (76ºC), turn the heat off. We need to temper the yolk mixture next. In a slow stream, add ¼ cup (56 grams) of the warm cream/milk mixture to the yolk mixture all while whisking vigorously. Repeat 3 more times, making a total of 1 cup (245 grams) added to the yolk mixture.
- Slowly add yolk mixture back to the pot, while also whisking vigorously. It’s important to whisk constantly so you don’t cook your eggs. Turn the heat back to medium/low and bring the custard back to 170ºF (76ºC).
- Turn the heat off and whisk in vanilla extract.
- Strain the custard into a clean bowl. We are straining to ensure a smooth mixture.
- Place plastic wrap directly onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Cover the entire bowl with another piece of plastic wrap and chill overnight or for at least 8 hours. The colder the better!
- The custard will be thick like a pudding. Pour custard into your ice cream maker. Once it resembles soft serve ice cream, which is after 8 minutes for my machine, add your marshmallows and almonds.
- Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 6 hours. Yay, you did it! Enjoy!!
Notes
- Make sure your ice cream bowl is completely frozen before churning. You should not be able to hear any liquid sloshing around inside. I keep my bowl in my freezer year round.
If you have made this recipe, I would love to know how it turned out for you! Please consider leaving a star rating and review below and tag me on Instagram @shortstackkitchen. Thank you so much!
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