Cardamom Ice Cream

Ingredients

4 cups 2% milk
2 cups light cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
8 whole green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 egg yolks
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 12oz bag semi-sweet morsels or chunks, chopped

Directions

Place the milk, cream, vanilla bean and crushed cardamom pods into a large saucepan. Bring slowly to a near-boil. Take out the vanilla bean and scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk mixture. Remove the crushed green cardamom pods and return the cardamom seeds to the milk mixture.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and falls in a thick, ribbon-like stream when lifted with the whisk. Gradually mix in a small ladleful of the milk into the egg yolks, whisking continuously. In a slow stream, whisk the remaining milk mixture into the bowl with the eggs, then return the liquid to the saucepan.

Over low heat, stir until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5-6 minutes. Do not let it boil, or the mixture will curdle.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the ground cardamom. Allow to cool completely, then stir in the chopped chocolate. Freeze in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer’s instructions.