With last week's Black Garlic Hot Chocolate recipe and this week's Black Garlic Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream recipe, it's become readily apparent that we're trying to satisfy a sweet tooth! To be fair, we are joining the ranks of thousands of other Midwesterners who are upset about this wintery weather in April and longing for Spring. So in an effort to beckon Summer (it will come!), here's a delicious homemade ice cream recipe for you to enjoy.

Black garlic and chocolate go together like macaroni and cheese. The rich molasses and balsamic flavors in black garlic combine with chocolate's sweetness to make it the perfect unique sweet treat. Don't let the oddity of putting garlic in your dessert stop you!

Thanks to All Roads Lead to the Kitchen for this amazing recipe!

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes (+ time to cool, churn, and freeze) | Cook Time: 5-10 minutes | Servings: a scant quart

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

• 1 tablespoon black garlic (smooshed into a paste, buy black garlic puree from Black Garlic North America :)

• 1 vanilla bean

• 7 large egg yolks

• 3 ounces dark chocolate, cut into rough chunks

Directions

Set yourself up:

Line a large container with a thick gallon-sized zippered baggie. Set a medium-mesh strainer over it; set aside. Have a large bowl of ice on the counter, ready for adding water.

Make your custard base:

Combine milk, cream, honey, 1-1/2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the garlic in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepot. Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise, then scrape out the seeds and add both the seeds and pods to the pot. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Let foil for 30 seconds or so, then turn off heat and keep warm.

Combine egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl and beat until thick and pale, 2-3 minutes. Very gradually beat in the hot milk mixture, dribbling in a very little bit at a time, until it is all added. Be sure to never stop beating, as you don't want the eggs to curdle. I use a hand-mixer to keep everything going quickly, but a whisk and some muscle will work just fine, too.

Pour mixture back into the pot. Turn heat to medium-low, and stir the mixture constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (napé).

Pour the thickened custard through the strainer and into the baggie that set up earlier. The strainer will hold back any large masses of garlic (don't worry, the flavor is already infused) and the vanilla bean pods (if you haven't already taken them out). Carefully zip the baggie shut, removing excess air.

Fill that bowl of ice about 2/3 of the way with cold water, then set the baggie in it (leaving the top, zippered part sticking out). Squish the mixture around to help it cool down quickly. You can let it sit in the water and come back every once in a while to move it around again. It should be cold after 30 minutes.

Churn it:

Transfer the cold custard to your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. When you hear the machine just starting to stop, add the chunks of chocolate to combine. When it's done churning, it should be the consistency of soft serve. You can eat it like this, or you can transfer it to a freezer-safe container and let freeze until firm, 2 hours or so.