Paris, Berthillon,and Robin Weir's Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream

Berthillon sign from ParisParis

For me, Memorial Day weekend is best when spent with my friends, Kath and Trev up in Vermont on their farm.  We garden and cook and eat and cook and eat and … you get the idea. When we are not making food we are usually discussing it. During one exuberant conversation about Paris, the topic of ice cream came up (we make a lot of ice cream and sorbets there –– they have an enormous machine that makes perfect ices like blackberry, mango, and my own recipe for madeira vanilla).

When you talk about ice cream and Paris, you talk about Berthillon.  Since 1954, the shop on the Ile Saint-Louis has been the destination for ice cream lovers operated by the Chauvin family (non-stop lines snake out along the street –– a pretty good indicator of the glories that await within the shop).  All the ingredients are the finest to be had –– seasonal fruit  comes from local suppliers at Rungis, exotics are relentlessly sourced until the best is obtained (chocolate, vanilla, etc).  I read on Yelp that a local once said the ice cream at Berthillon tasted like children’s laughter –– does it get better than that?

Berthillon interior

Knowing the wonders of Berthillon first hand, when I saw the recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream that purported to be as good as Bertillon, I had to try it.

I found it in a charming book called Frozen Desserts: The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir.  I met Robin at the Oxford Symposium last year when he decorated an ice cream tree in July before an audience with enormous panache.  Such courage is impressive (ice cream molds in July, terrifying!) but then Weir is obsessed with all things ice cream.  His collection of ice cream molds was dizzying… all of the fruit shapes and colors made for a very splendid tree (a tree frame was hung with multiples of 10 or 12 different fruit ice creams in the shape and color of many fruits –– terribly charming.

Weir began his ice cream odyssey in the 1980s when he was horrified at the ingredient list in a tub of ice cream he inspected in his grocery cart ––you know, emulsifiers, stabilizers, dextrose etc.  It was scary stuff that had nothing to do with pure, simple ice cream.  He began looking into the roots of ice cream and the beauty of fresh ingredients and came up with a stellar book.  Not to rest on his laurels, 12 years and  “millions of calories later",  he went on to write another great book and best seller  that came out last year, ICE CREAMS, SORBETS AND GELATI: The Definitive Guide, filled with 400 recipes for all skill levels as well as more glorious history of ices from all over England and Europe and even America (the older book I have is also full of wonderful stories and great recipes).  I recommend his books… they are indispensable when you are in the mood for the best ice cream ever.  This is killer chocolate and the trick with the cocoa is genius.  For it to be as good as Berthillon, it would have to be eaten in Paris (location, location, location).  Absent that –– this is great chocolate –– one of the best I've had.

The Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream inspired by Bertillon, Paris from Robin Weir

5 T Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (alkalized)

½ C minus 1 T sugar

1 ½ c milk

5 ¼ oz semi-sweet chocolate

3 egg yolks

1 t vanilla extract

1 t instant espresso granules (recipe called for coffee granules, I like the darkness of espresso)

¼ c sugar syrup*

1 c whipping cream (36% fat)

1-2 t of Armagnac, cognac or rum (optional)
rose geranium leaves for garnish (they taste great with chocolate, mint would work too)

*½ c water + 5/8 c sugar, heated till sugar dissolves.  This will make you more than you need.

Combine the cocoa and ½ the sugar.  Pour in enough milk to make a paste and then bring the rest of the milk to a boil.  Pour the hot milk into the cocoa mixture then return all to the pan under very low heat (Weir recommends a heat diffuser for this).  Simmer very, very slowly for 6 minutes stirring constantly. Liddell/Weir say this is what rids the cocoa of its powdery flavor.  Remove from the heat and add chopped chocolate.

Whisk eggs and the rest of the sugar till pale.  Then pour the chocolate into the mix and return to the pan. Stir till it slowly reaches 185º.    Add sugar syrup and coffee and liquor and put mixture over an ice bowl until cooled.  Strain and put in fridge.  Add the cream to the mix and use the ice cream machine.  When ready, put into container.  Top with plastic and cover.  Serve after 2 hours or remove from freezer 20-25 minutes before serving.  This ice cream is best and most flavorful when it is soft ––I think most ice creams are.