ColdStone Copycat Chocolate
Hi all! I thought I would share my recipe after a couple weeks of experimenting, it is mostly based off the ingredients list published by coldstone and then tweaking until I could get good results at home. Notably since this is based off a corporate base, it does require a lot of more advanced stabilizers and may be best for experienced makers as it requires stabilizer mixtures that have different reconstitution thresholds! For those who aren't as advanced who still want to try, I will include a fairly detailed step by step which should hit all the requirements.
A couple of notes on this recipe!
This ice cream is made using Goff's super premium bands, but it does go slightly over the total solids mark. This is because cold-stone keeps their cabinets warmer than most residential freezers, due to this the ice cream from home freezers often starts off harder to scoop than other bases. I suggest tempering in the fridge or on the counter for a little before serving for the best results.
Ingredients:
- Heavy Cream - 380g
- Sucrose (table sugar) - 145g
- Whole Milk - 380g
- Nonfat (skim)
- Milk Powder - 20g [Can be substituted for whey protein isolate in lower quantities for different texture]
- Guar Gum - 1g
- Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC / Cellulose Gum) - 0.5g
- Lambda Carrageenan - 0.2g
- Mono & Diglycerides - 1.5g
- Polysorbate 80 - 0.3g (About 3 drops)
- Cocoa Powder [11% dutched, if you have undutched add a bit of baking soda to it] - 55.5g
- Vanilla Extract - 4g
Recipe:
1. Make your dry blend
In a bowl, mix together 145g sugar, 20g skim milk powder, 1g guar gum, 0.5g CMC, 0.2g Lambda Carrageenan, 1.5g Mono & Diglycerides.
If you are using undutched cocoa powder, now is when you will want to mix 55g of cocoa powder and half a gram of baking soda.
In addition to these, do yourself a favor and get a large bowl and fill it with ice. Then get a smaller bowl and prepare your ice bath so we can rapidly cool the base once it's done.
2. Blooming Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder before being bloomed is in a good state to be stored on a shelf, but if we are using good expensive cocoa powders we want to make it more flavorful and get our moneys worth. By blooming the cocoa we are releasing the aromatics and oils in the powder and intensifying the chocolate flavor. I highly recommend against skipping the bloom
In a saucepan, mix together 380g whole milk and heat until close to 180f, make sure to whisk regularly so it doesn't stick and burn in any hot spots.
Once you either hit or are rapidly approaching 180f, add in the 55.5g of cocoa powder to the mix. This will foam slightly, which is fine and expected. Continue to whisk occasionally and lower the heat to 170, and bloom for 8-11 minutes.
3. Activate Stabilizers
Add the 380g of heavy cream to the saucepan, and heat up to 165. At this stage we want to be whisking constantly without stopping until this comes off the heat. While you whisk, slowly pour in the dry mix powder, as well as the 0.3g of polysorbate 80. Hold the mix temperature between 160 and 165 for 1-2 minutes, and then pull the saucepan from the heat.
4. Cool the Mix
Transfer the mix to the ice bath and stir frequently. Wait until the mix drops down under 100f.
5. Blend Together
Blend the mix in a blender for 30 seconds at a time, with 10 seconds between each pulse.
This step can theoretically be skipped, but I recommend against it. I find in testing that blending does a much better job of capturing air and improving texture, as it just forces everything together and makes all those stabilizers work as good as they can
6. Strain and Cool
After blending, pour the mix through a fine mesh strainer into whatever container you want to age the mix in, this will catch any clumps that have made it this far. Once strained, place the mix back into the ice bath until it's 70f or colder, then add in the 4g vanilla extract and whisk it in.
place the mix in the fridge for a minimum of 10 hours, with anything between 16-24 being ideal.
7. Churn
Cool your ice cream machine down before adding the mix, then once added churn for approximately 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it and pull it when it reaches a soft serve consistency.
Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours, ideally closer to 12.
8. Enjoy!
That's it for this recipe, I hope you get good results with it and feel free to drop any questions down below.