Mocha Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

A scoop of ice cream. The ice cream scoop is in the background.

This creamy custard based mocha fudge swirl ice cream combines a mocha ice cream with thick swirls of homemade fudge sauce. A perfect ice cream for summer!

Course Dessert

Cuisine North American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Chilling Time 10

Servings quart

Calories 3445kcal

Author Nina

Ingredients

Fudge Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup semi-sweet baking chocolate
⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mocha Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream cold, divided
⅔ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups whole coffee beans decaf
6 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Fudge Sauce

Add butter, heavy whipping cream, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to a small saucepan. Place over medium heat until ingredients are melted together and very hot, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then mix until chocolate is melted.
Add vanilla and stir. Let sauce sit at room temperature to cool. Store in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

Mocha Ice Cream

Place milk, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, sugar, salt, and coffee beans in a medium sized saucepan. Heat over medium heat until very hot, but not boiling.
Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour to let coffee beans steep in the mixture.
After 1 hour, sieve to remove the coffee beans, and dispose them. You may need to sieve the milk/cream mixture a few times to remove large bits of coffee granules. It's okay if some small bits remain.
Place milk/cream mixture back over medium heat until hot but not boiling. While that is heating up, add egg yolks to a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside. Add remaining 1 cup of heavy whipping cream to a large bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over it. Set aside.
When milk/cream mixture is hot, ladle a scoop full into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. We want to heat the eggs slowly so they don't scramble.
Add the egg yolks into the saucepan with the milk/cream mixture. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat and pour through the fine mesh sieve into the bowl with the heavy whipping cream in it. Stir together. Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Assembly

The next day, churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker as per your ice cream maker instructions.
Add half the churned ice cream to a freezer safe container. Spoon half of the fudge sauce over the ice cream. Add remaining half churned ice cream over top, then remaining half of the fudge sauce.
Cover and store ice cream in freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Store leftovers in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Notes

Use regular or decaf coffee beans. Both work equally well in this recipe.
Don't skip straining the ice cream base mixture. Little bits of cooked egg can be in it, and we want a very smooth ice cream.
Make sure your ice cream maker bowl has been stored in the freezer for at least 24 hours so the ice cream base can firm up for the best ice cream.
You can make this ice cream without the fudge swirl too. The mocha ice cream tastes really good on it's own!

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