Roasted Rhubarb and Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream is a creamy dreamy homemade ice cream with a unique flavor combination ~ if you don’t have an ice cream machine, this is the reason to get one!
Here’s the lowdown on this roasted rhubarb ice cream ~ it’s utterly delicious!
It has the subtle but unmistakable tangy taste of rhubarb, with chunks of dark chocolate to keep it from being too retiring. But my fresh rhubarb was on the pale side, and so the color didn’t come through in the finished ice cream as vibrantly as I’d hoped. It’s actually a little pinker than it shows up in the photos, but without the visual cue you probably can’t imagine the flavor. So from a blogging/photographic standpoint this was a failure, but otherwise, it was fun to make, and tasted really good. If you can find yourself some bright red rhubarb this spring, I recommend giving it a try.
The dark chocolate chunks were a last minute whim. I was watching the pale cameo pink ice cream churn around in the machine and my chocoholic side got the better of me. I grabbed a couple of dark chocolate bars, chopped them up and threw them in. Good decision.
I broke out my new ice cream maker for this recipe. It’s the same one I used to have but got rid of in a fit of ‘lightening our load’ when we moved a couple of years ago. It’s so quick and easy and I love that you can watch the whole process through the open top. I dipped my spoon in a couple of times while it was churning.
Roasting rhubarb brings out and intensifies its amazing flavor.
It only takes a few minutes in a hot oven. The puree is added to sugar, heavy cream and milk and then into the machine. If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can make this with a food processor or good blender. Check out my Blackberry Ice Cream post for details. Basically you freeze the mixture in a large zip lock baggie and then break it up into your processor and process till smooth and creamy. It works!
I know most people would have started off with plain vanilla or chocolate for their first try. But I couldn’t resist jumping right in and experimenting. If you’re going to make flavors that you can easily find in every grocery store, what’s the point of having an ice cream maker?
Roasted Rhubarb and Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh rhubarb, washed, trimmed, and cut in 2 inch chunks.
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, pod reserved
- 1 cup sugar
- juice of half a lemon
- 10 oz dark chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Set oven to 400F
- Put the rhubarb on a silpat lined baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, just until it softens and starts to release its juice.
- Puree the hot rhubarb in a blender or food processor. Process until very smooth. Add the lemon juice and set aside.
- Heat the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla seeds, and pod to a simmer. Take off the heat and let steep until cool.
- Strain the cream mixture to remove the vanilla pods, and whisk it with the rhubarb puree. Chill in the refrigerator until very cold.
- At this point taste the mixture. Add a little more lemon juice if needed. Pour into the bowl of your ice cream maker and process according to your machine's directions. When it is almost finished, add in the chocolate chunks and process just until they're evenly dispersed.
- Transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan or freezer container and freeze until ready to enjoy.
Notes:
- If you don’t have an ice cream machine but still crave homemade frozen treats, I have a few really great no churn ice cream recipes on the blog. One of my favorites is a decadent No Churn Dulce de Leche Ice Cream, it has an intense caramel flavor and an incredibly creamy consistency. Another one of my faves is my classic No Churn Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, it goes with anything and everything.
I wanted to make this recipe last summer but unfortunately it didn’t happen until now. It was absolutely delicious and easy. I prepped everything and then used my KitchenAid ice cream maker that has been sitting in my freezer begging me for to use it since the start of the summer! I rarely eat ice cream but I really want to sit and eat the entire tub of this! Thanks for a wonderful treat that took me back to childhood.
I love to hear this, thanks Julie 🙂
Suuuuuuuueeeeee you are killing me with these recipes! The tart and the sweet and the chocolate, this is now my favourite summer ice cream. It comes together so quickly and the rhubarb purée makes it creamier. All my rhubarb is now spoken for…..unless of course I stumble upon another if your delicious recipes. Tastes as good as it looks!
Yay Lissa ~ I hope to kill you over and over again all summer long ~ I’ve got so many more ice cream recipes up my sleeve 😉
What was the purpose of the lemon? To preserve the color of the rhubarb? I’ve seen lemon used in ice cream recipes to adjust the sweetness aft the base is made…but rhubarb is so tart already. When I made it I thought the hint of lemon distracted from the rhubarb and added to much tartness – I’d leave it out. The dark chocolate was a great pairing. Substituting brown sugar added depth of flavor – though, the color wasn’t as pretty.
The brown sugar is an interesting switch, I’ll have to try that. I added the lemon I guess because I really wanted to maintain that characteristic tang of the rhubarb, and ice cream is so sweet and tends to diminish that tart and tangy element.
This looks very good and my roommate and I are definitely going to try it, with a few adaptations for lack of vanilla beans and such. When does the sugar go in?
Fixed that, thanks! It goes in with the milk and cream before heating…
i have never had rhubarb ice cream before; not ever once. it’s a shame, because rhubarb is so brilliant. this one is also on the “ice creams to make once my maker is fixed” list. 🙂
first rhubarb ice cream i’ve ever seen, most definitely. my experience with rhubarb is extremely limited, but i think i’d like it better this way than in a pie.
I would NOT call this a failure Sue, it looks quite amazing to me. I never thought of rhubarb with chocolate but it’s quite brilliant!