Rocky Road Ice Cream

So maybe last night when I told you about my cupboard full of marshmallows, chocolate, and waffle bowls you could have guessed what was coming. Winter aside, my ice cream maker has been getting a lot of use. I made this rocky road ice cream to try and finish up a few loose ends. A bag of slivered almonds left over from the fruit tarts, a few marshmallows left over from rice crispy treats, and a bar of dark chocolate that only got partially eaten during a stressful study session.


I used the chocolate ice cream recipe from The Vegan Scoop, my new favorite cookbook. I used a mixture of regular Ghiradelli cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate, because I wanted the ice cream to be pretty dark. It was definitely chocolatey and rich, but next time I might even try a higher percentage cocoa. Seventy eight didn't have quite enough of a bitter edge for me.
For the batch of ice cream I used around 1/3 cup of slivered almonds and I cut around 8 Sweet & Sara marshmallows into fourths. I would recommend hand mixing those into the ice cream just as you are placing it into the container for the freezer. If you put them in the machine they are more likely to get stuck together or so covered in ice cream that they look less appealing.
This ice cream was my favorite so far. The chocolate flavor was rich, the almonds added just enough crunch, and the marshmallows froze really hard to add a bit more texture and creaminess to the mix.
I recently signed up for my first CSA, so I will have fresh fruits and vegetables for most of the summer and fall. I am pretty excited to turn some of those fruits into seasonal ice cream flavors! There are so many great ice cream flavors in my head already and with Hannah Kaminsky working on an ice cream book, I know there will be plenty more I am adding to that 'to spin' list.
Do you like really dark chocolates? I use to think they were too bitter for me to eat. But recently I have been finding them really enjoyable. Do you recommend any chocolate brands?