Chocolate mint ice cream can be made with spearmint or peppermint extract, or with fresh mint leaves. Natural versions are white or light green, while vivid green versions use food coloring. Homemade versions can have varying herbal flavors and may include chocolate chips or swirls.
Chocolate mint ice cream is a flavor made by adding spearmint or peppermint extract to a batch of cream, eggs, sugar, and other common ice cream ingredients. Some recipes may call for the addition of mint cream as an alternative. Depending on the type and concentration of mint flavor, this ice cream can range from white to mint green. This particular flavor is a popular choice in the ice cream industry, and many shops that sell ice cream carry at least a few different brands of mint chocolate chip. Many people enjoy mint chocolate chip ice cream during the hotter summer months for its light, refreshing taste.
White or light green chocolate chip ice cream is normally made with natural ingredients that do not include artificial colors. These types of ice cream flavors are often found in grocery stores or ice cream shops that specialize in organic foods and treats. The vivid green color of other mint ice cream brands often comes from the addition of concentrated peppermint or spearmint oil mixed with food coloring.
Some people who prefer a stronger mint flavor like to try their own chocolate mint ice cream recipes at home. The basic process involves adding mint extract to a mixture of eggs, cream, milk and sugar while processing the batch in an ice cream machine. Adventurous ice creams also sometimes use fresh mint leaves instead of extract.
Making mint leaves for chocolate mint ice cream requires a few extra steps. The leaves must be partially cooked in a saucepan together with the sugar and milk. Once the leaves are sufficiently softened, many recipes call for juicing and straining the leaves to add as much mint flavor as possible to the rest of the ice cream mix.
Ice cream with fresh mint leaves often has an earthier flavor than mint chip ice cream bought in the freezer sections of the store. Different batches of Homemade Chocolate Mint Ice Cream may have various herbal flavors, depending on the individual mint leaf cultures. The age of the mint and even where the leaves were harvested can affect the final taste of a batch of mint ice cream. Some people who make this ice cream from scratch add semisweet or mint chocolate chips. Others like to mix swirls of melted chocolate to harden with the rest of the ice cream during the freezing process.
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