Chocolate Ice Cream

A Philadelphia-style ice cream with no eggs: chocolate, sugar syrup, and cream, churned and then enriched with more cream at the end. The measurements need translating and the chocolate needs choosing carefully.

• The chocolate"Best French chocolate" of this period most likely meant a lightly sweetened eating or drinking chocolate, generally less sweet than modern confectionery bars. A good dark chocolate of 55-60% cacao is a reasonable match; 8 oz of it with 8 oz of sugar gives a firmly sweet, strongly chocolate ice cream.
• Breakfast-cupfulA breakfast cup is larger than a teacup, roughly 8-10 fl oz. Use 1 1/4 cups of boiling water and whisk until no grains of chocolate remain.
• Gills and pintsA gill is a quarter of a pint. In imperial measure that is 5 fl oz, so 3 gills is about 15 fl oz (a scant 2 US cups). The cream measure reads as 1 1/2 pints, that is 30 imperial fl oz, or about 3 3/4 US cups.
• Double creamBritish double cream runs about 48% butterfat. Heavy or whipping cream in the US is nearer 36%, which will still work; the finished ice cream will simply be a little less rich and will freeze slightly harder.
• Sugar boiled to a syrupDissolve the sugar in a little water, a scant half cup, and bring it to a boil just until clear, no further. This is a plain syrup, not a caramel; dissolving the sugar first helps it disperse evenly through the mixture.
• Strain through silkA fine-mesh sieve or a chinois does the same job. Strain while warm to catch any undissolved chocolate solids, then chill the mixture thoroughly, ideally overnight, before it goes near the machine.
• The ice pailA pot set in a pail packed with ice and coarse salt and worked by hand; some such freezers had a crank and paddle. Any modern ice cream maker substitutes; churn until thick.
• The final creamThe 3 gills (about 15 fl oz) of double cream added after freezing is what distinguishes the recipe. The instruction is only to 'work till smooth', so stir it through the churned base until even, then transfer to a covered container.
• Closing the pot"Close the pot till the ice is wanted" means keeping the covered pot packed in ice until it is served; in a modern freezer, two to three hours will firm it up. Let it stand 10 minutes at room temperature before scooping.
• YieldOn the imperial measures this comes to roughly two quarts, enough for ten or so servings.