Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Homemade Magic Shell

Several weeks ago, I made mint chocolate chip ice cream.  It's Ben's favorite flavor, and I really like it, too.  It was late at night when it was ready to eat, so we had some, and the next day I asked Ben not to finish it while I was at work so I could get some pictures later.

Well, guess who conveniently forgot about what I said?  It's all worked out pretty well for him, though, because I just had to go ahead and make more mint chocolate chip ice cream.

It's also working out pretty well for me, because I just got my hands on a copy of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  It's my kind of book!  It has so many delicious and creative ice cream recipes, organized by season.  And, it has lots of recipes for sauces, mix-ins, and sundaes.  It even has a recipe for macaron ice creams sandwiches.  I love it!

Jeni's ice cream base has a few interesting ingredients (cream cheese and cornstarch, for example), but they result in an ice cream that stays creamy and scoopable day after day.  You have to try this!

Ingredients (makes one quart; adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home):

For the ice cream:

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/ 4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Handful of fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons green creme de menthe (optional)

For the chocolate chips and magic shell:

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and two tablespoons of the milk to form a smooth paste.

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese and salt until smooth.

Heat the cream, remaining milk, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring it to a boil, and boil for four minutes.  Remove from the heat, and gradually mix in the cornstarch paste.  Return the mixture to a boil and cook for about a minute, stirring, until somewhat thickened.

Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese, whisking until smooth.  Stir in the vanilla, creme de menthe if using, and mint leaves. (If you decide not to use the creme de menthe, your ice cream won't be green.  You can always add food coloring if you want.)

Refrigerate the mixture for at least four hours to chill and infuse the milk with minty flavor.  When ready to freeze the ice cream, strain out the mint and freeze in your ice cream maker.

To make the chocolate chips and magic shell, heat the coconut oil and chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until melted and smooth.  Stir in the vanilla.  Cool to room temperature before layering with the ice cream.

When the ice cream is done, put a thin layer of chocolate in the bottom of an airtight container.  Add a layer of ice cream, then drizzle on some chocolate.  Keep layering until the ice cream is all packed up, using just about 2/3 of the chocolate.

Freeze the ice cream for at least four hours before serving.

Magic shell should be liquid at room temperature, but can be microwaved if necessary.  To serve, spoon a little chocolate on top of your ice cream and watch the magic.

Magic shell will keep in the refrigerator for three weeks.