Raspberry Chocolate Ice Cream

This raspberry ice cream with a chocolate shell recipe is absolutely dreamy. The contrast between the intense raspberry flavour, crackling chocolate shell, creamy delightful ice cream - just an amazing combo all around. The olive oil and flaky sea salt are totally optional but they DO make this into a very refined, grown up dessert. Make sure you don’t knock them until you try them!

This delightful treat, with its perfect balance of tart and sweet, captures the essence of summer in every bite. Whether you're looking to impress guests at a backyard barbecue or simply craving a cool, fruity escape from the heat, raspberry ice cream is my new go-to dessert.

I first tried raspberry ice cream from the ice cream bible The Perfect Scoop written by none other than David Lebovitz himself. To this day I swear by it and I find the recipes to be absolutely fail proof. This one is intense and creamy, perfectly smooth, melts in your mouth. The egg component of the custard is dialled down, as well as the sugar content, which allows the vibrant raspberry flavour to shine.

I put my own spin on it firstly, because I didn’t have half and half (and in Europe I’m not sure it even exists), then went ahead and made it glam with this dark chocolate and olive oil shell that pairs incredibly well with the ice cream (keep that recipe in your back pocket anyway, it would compliment ANY ice cream!).

Without further ado, here’s the recipe; let me know if you make it in the comments!

RASPBERRY ICE CREAM; DARK CHOCOLATE OLIVE OIL SHELL

Ingredients

(makes about 1l of ice cream; chocolate shell serves 6 generously)

For the raspberry ice cream (adapted from The perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz)

• 750g raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed, if frozen)

• 175ml milk + 175ml heavy cream

• 375ml heavy cream

• 130g sugar

• 3 large egg yolks

• tiny pinch of salt

For the chocolate olive oil shell

• 130g dark chocolate (60-75% cocoa content), finely chopped

• 60ml good quality extra virgin olive oil

• flaky sea salt, optional, to serve

To make the ice cream

lf you have an îce cream maker (affiliate link) wîth a bowl that needs to be frozen în advance, make sure to put yours in the freezer about 24 hours before starting the recipe.

Start by pureeing the raspberries in a food processor. Strain the puree through a sieve (this step is annoying and optional but I find it worth it for the incredibly silky texture in the end).

In a large bowl place the 375ml heavy cream, set a strainer on top. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan warm the milk and heavy cream (175ml of each) and sugar together until almost boiling (keep an eagle eye on it as you risk it flowing overboard and it's a PAIN to clean).

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks with a tiny pinch of salt.

When steaming, gently pour the cream/milk/sugar mixture over the egg yolks whisking well. A quarter of the mixture will do. This process is called tempering the egg yolks and will prevent them from turning into an omelette when exposed to heat.

Pour the tempered eggs back in the saucepan with the cream and bring back to the heat, making sure it's on low.

This îs where the magic happens. Upon reaching 70 degrees Celsius or so, the eggs will set, giving the custard its specific creamy texture. Keep whisking the mixtu re in order to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. ldeally use an instant read thermometer and as soon as the temperatu re reaches 75 degrees, take it off the heat. Alternatively, the custard should coat the back of your spoon -that's when it will have set.

As soon as it's off the heat, pour the custard through the sieve in the cold cream. This will stop it from further cooking.

Add the pureed raspberries to the bog bowl and mix well. This should cool down the mixture nicely.

Let chill an hour or so in the fridge then freeze in your ice cream maker (affiliate link) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in the freezer afterwards until ready to serve.

To make the chocolate shell

This couldn’t be easier to make: place the chopped chocolate in a small pan and warm over medium-low heat until melted (be careful to not burn it!). Off the heat add the olive oil and mix well until incorporated. It is now ready to serve, keep it warm until needed.

To serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer about 15 minutes ahead, so it can reach a scoopable consistency.

Scoop the ice cream into bowls. Drizzle the chocolate on top which will harden almost instantly in a beautiful shiny shell.

Top with flaky sea salt, if you wish.

Dig in!