Ingredients

• ¾ cups sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 oz dark chocolate (70%), chopped

Ingredients

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed, nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, melt ¾ cup of the sugar, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula and watching constantly. Continue cooking until the caramel takes on a deep amber color and is a smooth liquid, about 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn it, because it goes from being perfect to burnt very quickly.
2. Immediately add the water to stop the cooking—but be careful because it will splatter. (Unless you think scars are sexy, which is fair.) Reduce the heat to medium and stir until smooth. Add the cream, milk, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is hot but not boiling. Fill a large bowl or pan with ice and water. Place a large, clean bowl in the ice bath and fit the bowl with a fine-mesh strainer.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1 cup sugar until well blended.
4. Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Slowly pour about half of the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer the yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture and return it to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula and being sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan so it doesn’t scorch, until the liquid begins to steam and you can feel the spatula scrape against the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Just toward the end of cooking the custard, whisk in the cocoa powder. At this point, whisk constantly until finished, because cocoa burns very easily. When the custard is done, remove from the heat.
6. Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Pour the hot custard over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the clean bowl you set up in the ice bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally.
7. When the custard has totally cooled, cover the bowl tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. When you are ready to freeze the custard, transfer it to an ice cream maker and spin according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Eat immediately, or transfer to an airtight container, cover, and freeze for up to 1 week.

Source: Godby, Jake; Vahey, Sean (2012-04-13). Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream Book (Kindle Locations 764-772). Chronicle Books LLC. Kindle Edition.