What ingredients are in rocky road ice cream

This Rocky Road Ice Cream is a rich, smooth chocolatey bowl of deliciousness blended with fluffy mini-marshmallows and chopped roasted almonds.

It is said that the combination of rich chocolate ice cream, marshmallows and nuts was first invented in the late 1920’s then named Rocky Road during the Great Depression.  There have been many variations over the last 80+ years, some with chocolate chunks, others with walnuts.  However the most popular combination by far seems to include the basics: almonds and marshmallows mixed in chocolate ice cream.
The amount of marshmallows and almonds varies greatly from brand to brand, but when making homemade you can adjust those add-ins to suit your taste.

Personally I can’t even think about Rocky Road Ice Cream without remembering a scene from the iconic 1985 movie “The Goonies.”  One of the characters named ‘Sloth’ offers Rocky Road Ice Cream to a young boy named ‘Chunk.’  The two bond over their love of ice cream and go on to save the day!

If you haven’t seen this fun, adventurous movie directed by Steven Spielberg, go rent it today!

My husband, and chief culinary consultant, declared this the best ice cream he’s ever had.  I was certainly surprised to hear that, especially since he’s not a “chocolate lover” like me.  His favorite way to enjoy a bowl of our Rocky Road Ice Cream is with a crumbled up cone mixed in.  Over the top fantastic indeed!

Pull out your ice cream maker, get that insert in the freezer, and make a batch of this custard.  Process it in your ice cream maker, and you’ll have something to enjoy in this warm weather!

Here are a few more ice cream recipes you might enjoy:

• Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
• Rum Raisin Ice Cream 
• Chocolate Chocolate-Chunk Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream
• Low Fat Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
• Cinnamon Ice Cream
• Key Lime Pie Ice Cream 

This Rocky Road Ice Cream is a rich, smooth chocolatey bowl of deliciousness blended with fluffy mini-marshmallows and chopped roasted almonds.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Ice Cream, rocky road

Servings: 12 servings (1/2 cup)

Calories: 384kcal

• 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
• 1½ cups whole milk
• 1 cup granulated white sugar, divided
• dash of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ to 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1½ cups coarsely chopped whole roasted almonds

• Place a large bowl in your sink and fill it about half full with ice. Place a slightly smaller stainless-steel or glass bowl inside the bowl with the ice bath. Add the heavy cream to the inside bowl. Set a fine mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

• In a medium saucepan whisk together the milk, 3/4 cup of the sugar, a dash of salt and the cocoa powder. Heat on medium until the mixture reaches 185 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Once you reach 185 degrees, continue to cook the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, but do not boil.

• Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate has melted. Set aside.

• In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until slightly thick and foamy. Temper the eggs by drizzling a small amount of the hot chocolate mixture to the eggs, while whisking constantly. Continue whisking and adding more hot chocolate mixture to the eggs until all is combined. Return the chocolate and egg custard to the saucepan.

• Place the mixture on the stove top over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir the custard constantly until it again reaches 185 degrees on the instant-read thermometer (or when it coats the back of the wooden spoon). Do not allow the mixture to boil.

• Remove from the heat and pour the hot chocolate custard through the fine mesh strainer/sieve into the bowl with the cold heavy cream. Add the vanilla extract and stir until completely blended.

• Cool the mixture by stirring every 5 minutes or so while over the ice bath. After about 30 minutes, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.

• Process according to your ice cream maker instructions. Once processed, spoon about 1/4 of the chocolate ice cream into a storage container and sprinkle with 1/3 of the nuts and marshmallows. Repeat two more times by layering the ice cream, then the nuts and marshmallows, ending with the last of the ice cream. Freeze in a sealed container until ready to serve.

• You will need an ice cream maker, a fine mesh sieve/strainer, and an instant-read thermometer to make this ice cream.

Serving: 1serving- 1/2 cup, Calories: 384kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 105mg, Sodium: 33mg, Potassium: 261mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 26g, Vitamin A: 575IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 115mg, Iron: 1.5mg