It was chocolate week here in Maine. Starting with a metaphorical dessert – watching one of my all time favorite contestants win Masterchef Australia on her third try. Then, it was my grandmother’s birthday, and we made chocolate chip cookies for her. She ordered the wrong type of dark chocolate a few days earlier, a box of 10 92% bars. So she gave them to me. I took it as a personal challenge to make something decadent. And after a twisty road, I came up with a delicious dark chocolate raspberry ice cream.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

Chocolate is my favorite. And my mom and grandmother are both equally obsessed with chocolate desserts. As you may have assumed by the fact that my grandmother bought a pack of 10 chocolate bars online for $65. I had different recipes planned. And my full attention went to Masterchef’s final episodes, which saw my dream top 2 battle it out in the grand finale. I’ve talked about my love of Australian Masterchef before, but let me remind you that it is truly magical.

I’ve been watching it religiously since I was a pre-teen, when I discovered it on a pirated TV website one bored summer night. I watched the first 4 seasons in a hurry. And it deeply informed my love of creative cooking. I still remember watching the finale of season 6. I was 19, and my favorite, Laura, was 19 too. She made it to the final 2, despite all odds, with her Italian dishes inspired by her Nonna. In the finale, she and Brent, the winner, had to make a mind-bogglingly complex chocolate dessert. And she lost.

MasterChef Australia Finale

I was devastated. My dad and I watched the finale together in our living room. We loved Laura equally, and I dreamed of someone my age winning arguably the hardest cooking competition in the world. I was disappointed, but my love for the show only grew exponentially. Next season my all-time favorite, Billie, emerged. And for years my dad and I watched the show. We invested collective weeks of our lives rooting for Australian cooks as I grew up. In the blink of an eye, I was living at home again during the pandemic. I was 24.

Masterchef hosted a “Back to Win” season with some of the most talented and beloved contestants. Laura made it to the grand finale, again, with her best friend Emilia. In the finale Laura burned her hand, messed up her ice cream, and lost. Again. I was less devastated this time because I also love Emilia. But I never expected to see Laura on TV again. It was bittersweet. But this summer was season 17. Back to Win 2. So, I found myself in the living room again Tuesday, with my parents, watching Laura compete in her third finale.

Chocolate Flowers

This year they had to make an edible pot of grand chocolate flowers and plants. Made with tempered chocolates, cactus-shaped bonbons filled with aloe, raspberry truffle flowers, and leaves made out of tuiles. I was mesmerized, watching Laura and Callum, another all-time favorite, compete. If she lost, she would have become a 3-time runner up. I couldn’t bear imagining her falling short again. Thankfully she started by cooking an amazing potato dish for the savory challenge. Potato risotto, made with cubed potatoes instead of rice.

Laura’s edible chocolate flowers looked nearly identical to the original. And had minor flaws. So, she won. Finally! And I couldn’t believe that I watched her lift the trophy, finally, 11 years after first rooting for her. When we were both 19. So I decided to make potato risotto. My mom and I went to the farmers market Thursday (after my grandmother’s birthday Wednesday. I picked up onions, garlic, and potatoes to make a homemade vegetable stock.

A Failed Potato Risotto

Long story short, I worked hard to replicate Laura’s extremely complex dish. I watched my potatoes like a hawk, ladling vegetable stock onto them in a gently simmering pan. But I overcooked them. And I didn’t pack enough punch into the stock to stand up to the meaty potato squares. The dish was tasty. But not Masterchef worthy. So I went back to the drawing board. I stared at the box of dark chocolate bars from my grandmother. And I sweated my ass off in the brutal heat and humidity.

I wanted ice cream. Badly. But after giving mostly all the chocolate chip cookies we baked to my grandmother, my hankering for chocolate was worse than usual. I thought about making a dark chocolate raspberry ice cream. With juicy, plump red berries folded throughout a silky chocolate custard. But I had other plans. A day of exploring and shopping with my parents in Camden. Our favorite town in Maine. Including an amazing lunch at an unassuming seafood shack that gave me one of the best BLTs I’ve ever eaten.

Birthday Shopping + Ice Cream

We spent the day trudging around, dodging tourists, and shopping for cupcakes, birthday presents, and cooking gadgets. I drove us home. My water bottle was too hot to even touch after sitting in the car. We were parched and exhausted. So we stopped to buy water at a gas station. And we passed farm stand after peak August farm stand on the way home. Desperate to escape the heat, I ignored my inclination to pull over and peruse the produce. We even drove by Beth’s, a beloved, gigantic farm that many locals flock to each summer.

But when I got home I couldn’t stop thinking about dark chocolate raspberry ice cream. Earlier in Camden I turned down an offer to get ice cream at an idyllic stand next to a quaint bridge. And I regretted it. I rested for a few minutes at home. Watered myself and my plants. And I got to work. I didn’t think twice – I started making a custard. I would use my chocolate bars to make dark chocolate raspberry ice cream. So I got out eggs, sugar, and a little espresso powder and salt. All I was missing was raspberries. My mom offered to pick some up while she was downtown.

Chopping Chocolate Bars

I zoned out chopping chocolate bars. I use a serrated knife, which clings onto the grooves of the hard chocolate and makes it much easier to chop. 3 whole bars, just to be gluttonous. I then measured out whole milk and heavy cream, separated eggs in a glass mixing bowl, and whisked them up with sugar into a pale, creamy concoction. Next I cooked my cream and milk over medium heat until it steamed and bubbled. With espresso powder and a little coffee extract. Salt. And a tablespoon of black cocoa powder.

Soon I had a swirling vat of hot milk, which I removed from the heat. I dumped in my 3 chopped up chocolate bars with a bench scraper and washed the melted chocolate off of my hands. My favorite part was whisking the chocolate liquid into a creamy dark hot chocolate mixture. Once it was all melted I ladled some spoonfuls into my eggs and sugar to temper them. Then, the eggs went into the vat of chocolate milk. I whisked until it thickened into a pudding over heat once again. And then I strained it.

Dark Chocolate Creme Anglaise

I took another rest while it chilled. A thick, luscious dark chocolate pudding mixture, too warm to churn right away. My mom returned with raspberries. Beautiful red jewels. And I checked my chocolate creme anglaise in the freezer, which I spread thinly onto a baking sheet to cool faster. It was ready. So I also popped the bowl of my ice cream machine out of the freezer and carted it upstairs, assembling my machine. I scraped all of my cold chocolate pudding into the bowl, which churned and groaned with a switch flip.

All I had left to do was wait for it to thicken. My mind wandered back to Italy. 2023. Trying gelato after gelato in the streets of Florence. The dark chocolate flavor was potent and a popular choice. I had more coffee ice cream and lemon sorbet. But the chocolate gelatos I did taste were life changing. Jam-packed with dark cocoa flavor. Creamy and thick. So I had a clear standard in mind for my recipe. I poked my spoon into the bowl as it finished churning and tasted a bite. A knockout punch of deep, rich chocolate. Heavenly and cold on a hot summer day.

Ice Cream Weather

Once it was done I let it chill overnight. It was dinner time anyway, and the weather was cooling down. So, I couldn’t wait to get a good night’s sleep and spend the next afternoon plating an artful dark chocolate raspberry ice cream dish. When I woke up, I thought of Laura again. I felt so happy knowing she had finally accomplished her dream of winning Masterchef. I thought back to some of her dishes this season. And I realized she made a few cool ice cream dishes.

Last week she and her teammates made a Neapolitan ice cream with three simultaneous humming mixers on the counter. And they were scooped and pushed down a little bit, then stacked on top of each other. I thought it was so cool. A vertical stack of ovular ice cream mounds. So I decided to scoop a big dollop of my dark chocolate raspberry ice cream (sans raspberries) onto my black plate. I would push a crevice in the top to hold the raspberries.

Raspberries + Chocolate

After about 4 hours of carting my ice cream back and forth from the freezer to the counter, mixing and spreading, I couldn’t achieve the right shape. I was so frustrated. So finally, I got out my ice cream scoop and just garnished a simple ball with berries and basil. And when I was done groveling about the time I wasted, I dug in. The ice cream was extremely rich. The fresh raspberries added so much acidity and texture. The whole dish reminded me so much of my favorite chocolate raspberry tart. The luscious chocolate spoonfuls. Pops of raspberry juice. Each bite was a simple celebration of chocolate and fresh summer fruit.

Next time I want to make an ice cream cone. When I’m not pinched for time. The basil adds a great depth of flavor too, so I might add it to the custard base. Or I may top it with some kind of rich coffee caramel. Whipped cream. After making complex recipes lately I love the simplicity and minimalism of this dish. It’s not trying to be anything that it’s not. I’m not adding anything for style points. It’s all flavor. And if you like chocolate, this is your new go-to rich, dark, creamy ice cream recipe.

Planning Summer Adventures

I’ll be enjoying my dark chocolate raspberry ice cream for days to come. As we brace for more hot and humid weather. I’ll miss my favorite cooking show in the coming days and the inspiration I get from their creative cooking. But I’m looking forward to backtracking to some of the amazing farm stands we passed on the way home Friday. Maybe a pick-your-own berry farm. Or a quick stop at an ice cream stand.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recipes and paintings, be sure to check out my prints and my Etsy for 100’s of recipe cards and art prints. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off.