Malted milk powder has a huge, positive effect in the taste of milk shakes and other dessert dairy products. In this recipe malted milk powder is used directly in flavoring chocolate custard base ice cream and I expected the results to be excellent.

And so they were! I used basically what looked like a pretty good custard ice cream base recipe from the Internet ... and I quantified it regarding temperatures and modified it a bit with the addition of the milk to make the custard process more reliable by being less prone to being ruined by unintentional overheating. Actually I've changed ingredient amounts also to what I know makes a superior custard base ice cream, like limiting the sugar to 2/3 of a cup and using enough vanilla extract to be noticeable.

Since this is a custard base ice cream it is very important not to exceed the indicated temperatures, so use an instant read thermometer and be vigilant while heating the ingredient mixtures. Stir with scraping using a wooden spoon while heating to keep any forming custard from overheating on the inside surface of the saucepan. Also, use a heavy bottom saucepan and nothing higher than medium heat to assure even, controlled heating.

Note that malted milk powder can easily be used in different ice cream recipes to enhance taste (examples: vanilla or strawberry), with the exception of certain types of ice creams noted for already having a unique desirable taste, and/or texture, like Rocky Road. For example, some fruit ice creams and especially fruity gelatos will lose their unique, bright taste if malted milk powder is added to the recipe.

Ingredients: (makes about 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream)

1, 12 oz. can of evaporated milk

2/3 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of milk

2 cups of heavy cream

2/3 cup of malted milk powder

2/3 cup of Hersheys® powdered unsweetened cocoa

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract

5 jumbo or six extra large egg yolks

Directions:

Put the first seven ingredients into a heavy base two quart saucepan, whisking the mixture with each addition to blend the ingredients.

In a separate one quart stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.

In a separate two or three quart stainless steel bowl put in the vanilla extract and place a fine sieve or strainer over the top of the bowl.

Warm the mixture in the saucepan to 140 degrees F while slowly whisking, making sure to get all of the solids dissolved and well mixed with the liquid ingredients.

Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Slowly pour a cup of the warmed mixture into the whisked egg yolks, while whisking constantly, then pour the contents back into the saucepan and whisk briefly.

Return the saucepan to the heat.

Stir the chocolate custard mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture reaches 175 degrees F.

Immediately pour the chocolate custard through the sieve/strainer, remove the sieve/strainer, and whisk the chocolate custard with the vanilla extract.

Discard the sieve/strainer contents and set the sieve/strainer aside to be cleaned.

Scoop out any custard left in the saucepan with a spoon and add it to the bowl of chocolate custard and whisk to mix it in.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the chocolate custard for two to three hours or until it is totally chilled to the refrigerator temperature.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Use a two quart covered plastic container or a paper carton of the closable type used for takeout foods to hold the ice cream.

Hard freeze the ice cream for three to four hours in the deep freeze or in the refrigerator freezer section.

Enjoy!