Watermelon Ice Cream With Chocolate Chips in Mochi (Parsley or Chervil)

Using an ice cream maker would be really nice for this project. But of course, I don't own one, so I made ice cream without it. This was my first attempt and until this project I only made ice cream for a chemistry class using zip lock bag and rock salt. So I simply didn't know what to expect. After all, I magically pulled it off. :) I wanted chocolate chips to look more like watermelon seeds, but it didn't quite work out. Next time, I would use mini ones and add more. It doesn't look perfect, but you can taste watermelon and when you bite on parsley (or chervil) in mochi you can taste it. I couldn't get chervil anywhere, so I can't really comment on how chervil would taste like, but parsley adds more freshness. It tastes good! Yum!

Tools/Equipment:

Blender

Hand Mixer

Skimmer

Pizza Cutter

Pastry Brush

Ice Cream Scoop

Muffin Pan

Plastic Wrap

Sandwich Bags

* Suribachi (grinding bowl)

www.gourmetsleuth.com/articles/detail/suribachi - This is an option.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup Mochiko or Shiratamako (Sweet Rice Flour)

++ I used Mochiko for this project, but Shiratamako might work better if you can find it. ++

* Honey

* 6 Egg Yolks

* 2 1/2 cups Whole Milk

* 1 cup Coconut Milk

* Heavy Whipping Cream

* 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (preferably mini ones)

* 1/3 cup Sugar

* 1/2 cup Water

* 3 tablespoons Parsley ( or Chervil)

* 3 cups Watermelon

* Orange Zest from One Orange

Cube watermelon to get 3 cups of watermelon. In a blender, combine the watermelon and orange zest. Blend until smooth. By using a skimmer/strainer, skim/strain the juice and discard pulp. You should get one and a half cups of the liquid. Set aside for now.

In a bowl, combine sugar and egg yolks. Mix it with an electric hand mixer on high for about five minutes. Set aside for now.

In a saucepan, combine milk, coconut milk, heavy cream, and salt. Heat until simmering. Remove from heat and let it stand for a few minutes.

Take one cup of the warm milk mixture and slowly stir into the egg mixture. Mix this mixture into the rest of the milk mixture. Heat and stir for about five minutes until the mixture thickens. Remember not to boil! Prepare icy cold water and place the saucepan in the water to cool.

Combine the mixture with the watermelon juice. Let it cool in a refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Pour the mixture into a container. (I used two loaf dishes.)

Place the container/dish in freezer and remove from freezer every one hour or so and mix to break up forming ice. Repeat the process a few times.

Scoop out ice cream using ice cream scoop. Cover a muffin pan with a plastic wrap. Place an ice cream ball in each compartment in the pan. Return the pan to freezer.

Chop parsley to get 3 tablespoons. Grind 2 tablespoons of parsley to get 1 tablespoon of juice. Set the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley aside for later use.

In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup of mochiko (sweet rice flour) and 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix it well and add 1/2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of parsley juice. Add 1 tablespoon of honey and mix it well. Loosely cover the bowl with a plastic wrap. Microwave (780 W) approx. 1 and a half minutes and mix it, and microwave another 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and add 1 tablespoon of parsley and mix it well.

On a sheet pan, sprinkle some starch first and set the mixture. Sprinkle more starch on top of it and spread the mixture to make 8 x 12 sheet size. Let it cool first and put it in refrigerator for a half an hour or so. Cut the mixture into 6. Dust off excess starch using a pastry brush. In a pie dish, lay a sandwich bag, then the mochi sheet. Repeat the process. Put in freezer for a half an hour or so.

Take the mochi sheets and the ice cream balls out of freezer. Take one mochi sheet with one sandwich bag and set one ice cream ball in the center of the sheet. Tightly wrap it up and clip with a paper clip to seal. Put the wrapped ice cream ball in the muffin pan. Repeat the process. Put the pan back in freezer.

Remove bag and paperclip. Place the mochi ice cream onto a plate. Enjoy!