It was a 'chocolate' day!

16 years ago

Last Friday I received my first-ever package from Chocoley.com, a chocolate-making company I learned about on Facebook. It contained fondue chocolate, and a bottle of their new, still-unnamed chocolate (which I tried later on some ice cream and it is delicious).

Later, I was digging through our pantry looking for chocolate. I found a large, unopened bar of Trader Joe's 72% dark chocolate. I still have no idea how long it was there and why I bought it. Who in their right mind forgets about all that good chocolate?!

But what I was really looking for was the opened box of Scharffen Berger unsweetened chocolate which I planned to use for the chocolate ice cream I would make later that day. Unfortunately there wasn't enough, so we headed to Trader Joe's (where I bought it a few years ago) to buy more.

At TJs, I couldn't find the SB chocolate so I asked a worker if they still carry it. He said no. While I was explaining my intentions to him, a woman customer introduced herself to me as a "chocolate expert" who teaches about chocolate and asked if she could answer my questions. She graciously discussed chocolate and answered my questions for several minutes while my mouth watered and my heart pounded. What are the odds of being in that TJs (there are 3 nearby) at the exact same time and spot as a chocolate expert?! In the end, she suggested a couple of good chocolates we can purchase in the U.S. then pulled one out of her cart --- a big bar of Trader Joe's 72% dark chocolate, the same chocolate I found in our pantry earlier that day!

So, that's what I used to make the chocolate ice cream last weekend. I took some of it to work this week, and watched eyes roll into the back of heads as co-workers muttered "This is killer chocolate ice cream", "MMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmmMMMmmm WOWWWWWWWWWWW...", and (today) "Oh this chocolate ice cream is OMG!!!"

From start to finish, last Friday was Chocolate Day at our house!

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Comments (6)

sooz
16 years ago
Oh, you tease! How fun to have a chocolate day!

Eyes rolling into the back of heads??? Sounds like a recipe you really should share (beg beg!).

I used TJ's cocoa AND TJ's 72% dark chocolate AND TJ's cream AND TJ's half & Half AND TJ's eggs in my recent Chocolate Gelato recipe (already had the vodka or I would have purchased it at TJ's). I guess it should really be renamed to TJ's Chocolate Gelato ! :O)

How I Did It--
2 C milk or half & half
1 C cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa
2 T vodka
OPT: Instead of cocoa, add 1/4 C Nutella
Mix half & half with cream and warm it in a pan until it gets a little bit of foam bubbles on the edge. Set aside.

Beat yolks and sugar until frothy in a big bowl.

Slowly pour warm cream mixture into egg mixture bowl, tempering it slowly so you donÂt make cooked eggs.

Return the new mix to the pan and cook, stirring constantly until the temp is 175 degrees.

Pour this mix thru a sieve and into another clean bowl.

Add cocoa (I used a hand mixer to add the cocoa to make sure it was incorporated--add the cocoa a bit at a time or you & your kitchen will be wearing much of it.). Stir in the vodka.
Chill overnight.
Process in an ice cream maker according to directions.
jenn
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you Sooz --- oh my that sounds good! I'm wondering if the Nutella would change the consistency, making it richer/thicker than using the cocoa.

I don't see the TJ's 72% dark chocolate in the recipe. Did you drizzle it over the top? ;-)
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lowspark
16 years ago
Are you talking about those pound plus bars from TJ? We don't have TJ here (boohoo!!) but whenever I have access to one, I pick up some of those bars to use for baking. They are wonderful. IMO better than those baker's chocolates they sell for baking and cheaper! My friend was just in NY recently and asked if she could bring me anything back from Trader Joe's. I was like, yeah, those pound plus DARK chocolate bars. She brought me FOUR! Wheeeeeeee!!!

Coming up on the schedule will be Ann T's Decadent Brownies. Those require 22 oz of chocolate and the TJ bar works perfectly for that. And they are hands down the most lucious rich chocolaty brownies ever.
jenn
Original Author
16 years ago
lowspark: yes, I that's what I'm talking about --- the pound plus bars. I will have to make those brownies, one of my all-time favorite foods. I like mine chocolatey.
wizardnm
16 years ago
Serious chocolate and Trader Joe envy here!!!

Nancy
sooz
16 years ago
Jenn, you're right! I forgot to put that part in the recipe! I shaved a bunch of the chocolate using my microplane--about 1/4 C--and put it in the ice cream maker about 5 minutes before the i.c. was done. They are the teeny tiny specks in the ice cream! Thanks for bringing this to my attention...reminds me of Menopause the Musical! ha ha

I think the Nutella might make it more creamy. If I try it, I'll post my results!

Sooz