I've always felt a little guilty I left you hanging way back when without a recipe for the chocolate ice cream.  Well today my helper and I managed to almost ruin THE page in my recipe book, and I found myself needing to type it up.  So voila!  Make sure you have a little whipped cream and maybe some toasted almonds on hand when you eat this. 

Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from Caroline Liddell & Robin Weir's Frozen Desserts:  The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights

Prep work: 

• Separate eggs, keeping yolks
• Chop chocolate 
• Make espresso syrup: combine in a saucepan 5 parts sugar with 4 parts espresso (I usually use 2.5 c sugar and 2 c espresso and keep the extra syrup in the fridge for subsequent batches). Heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Empty your dishwasher or clear out your sink. You’re going to feel like a bomb went off in the kitchen but everything can go in the dishwasher if there’s room! 

1.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk half the sugar (7 Tbsp or ½ c minus 1 Tbsp) with the cocoa powder. Measure out the milk and whisk in just enough to turn the cocoa/sugar mix into a thin paste. Bring the remaining milk to a boil.
2. Once boiling, whisk the milk into the bowl with the cocoa/sugar paste, mixing well. Put entire contents of bowl back into saucepan and gently heat to simmering, stirring constantly. The more committed you are to stirring, the more aggressively you can heat the mix. I usually set the burner to just above medium and stir constantly. Simmer for 6 minutes, continuing to stir. Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped chocolate.
3. In another medium bowl, beat together the egg yolks and remaining sugar (the other 7 Tbsp or ½ c minus 1 Tbsp) until pale. Temper egg yolk mixture with a small amount of the molten chocolate deliciousness, then slowly add the rest, whisking vigorously. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove. Heat gently as above, stirring constantly, until the mix reaches 85°C/185°F.
4. Remove mix from heat, and stir in espresso syrup and vanilla extract. Sit pan in an ice bath until cold. Strain, cover, and chill in fridge until cold.
5. Once cold, beat in heavy cream and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the instructions.