Go Back
Two cones of homemade stracciatella ice cream held up in glasses, next to a white loaf pan filled with ice cream.

Stracciatella Ice Cream

Ice Cream From Scratch
Stracciatella Ice Cream is a churned ice cream recipe that features a vanilla ice cream base laced with crispy thin bits of decadent bittersweet chocolate.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chilling/Freezing Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 45 minutes
Course Ice Cream Recipes
Cuisine Dessert
Servings 6 servings
Calories 516 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped

Instructions
 

  • Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
  • Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined. 
  • Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes. 
  • Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Then, add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  • Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 25 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
  • While the ice cream is churning, add the chopped chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted. Add to a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
  • In the last 2 minutes of the churning process, stream the bittersweet chocolate into the ice cream while it is churning. The chocolate will freeze and break up as it churns.
  • Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid. Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving

Notes

  • I love the taste of bittersweet chocolate in stracciatella ice cream, but you can use dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate if you prefer. 
  • You don’t have to use a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the tip cut off of it to steam in the chocolate, but I find I have better control that way. You could simply let the chocolate drizzle off a spoon instead.
  • Allowing homemade ice cream to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving makes it much easier to scoop.
  • Keyword Stracciatella Gelato, Stracciatella Ice Cream