Dark yet surprisingly light, this fantastic chocolate gelato from Alice Medrich’s latest book, Flavor Flours, uses superfine white rice flour, a favorite of pastry chefs for thickening pastry creams, in the gelato base for a clean, singular dark chocolate flavor.
As my quest for the best homemade dark chocolate ice cream continues, I’m starting to realize that there might not be just one, sort of like chocolate chip cookies. Crispy, chewy, monstrous… I love them all. Likewise, some days I want my dark chocolate ice cream to taste like midnight, other days intensely fudgy, and today, simple and light.
I’d be very excited if you linked your favorite dark chocolate ice cream recipes in the comments below!
Happy churning 🙂
Thai white rice flour is cheap and readily available in the flour aisle of pretty much any Chinese or Asian grocery store. Just bring in the picture below! Make sure you get Erawan brand in the red packaging.
Ingredients
Directions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the cocoa with 1/3 cup milk to form a smooth paste.
- In a medium pot, mix the sugar with the rice flour and salt. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the remaining milk until the mixture is smooth and lump free. Whisk in the rest of the milk. Cook over medium or medium-high heat, stirring the bottom, sides, and corners constantly until the mixture thickens and bubbles a little. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 more minutes.
- Add the cocoa paste and whisk to blend. Continue to cook and stir for 1 more minute.
- Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and stir until smooth. Cover with a lid and let cool, then refrigerate until completely cold. I always overnight it.
- Churn in your ice cream maker. If you're not planning on eating this immediately, stir in the Kahlúa, vodka, or rum before churning to make the gelato a little softer and easier to scoop once frozen.
Notes
Barely adapted from Alice Medrich's Sicilian Chocolate Gelato in her fantastic new book Flavor Flours

12 comments
Can you buy the rice flour online??
I think Amazon has it! Although it might be quite a bit more expensive. You can also use corn starch in a pinch.
I love this tip about using superfine white rice flour to thicken ice cream, and this one looks perfectly rich and chocolately. I’ll definitely be trying it! xo
Thanks Christine! I love trying out new tips and tricks like rice flour 🙂 Hope you get to try it too sometime.
Absolutely incredible photos. So happy to have found you!
Ditto! Thanks Erin!
Dark chocolate gelato is seriously one of my all time favourite desserts, but I have never made it myself… this looks so gorgeously dark, rich and smooth that I think it might be time to give it a go! So interesting that it has rice flour in it too, I would never have picked it 🙂
I hope you try it! I think you’ll love it 😛 If you’re curious about rice flour, this is the article that first tipped me off – http://food52.com/blog/12715-your-pastry-cream-can-do-better
SO YUM! Loving this- pinned 🙂
Thanks Medha! Loving your new profile pic btw!
Uh, it’s normal to be craving gelato at 10:30 in the morning, right?! This looks so decadent and tantalizing.
Completely normal and strongly encouraged 😉