Works For Me Wednesday- Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sauce

Let’s just continue the theme of our real food lifestyle that we started yesterday shall we? I have always enjoyed cooking and could almost start a cooking blog with all the deliciousness going on around here lately. But that would require me to take pictures of food before I eat it and frankly usually the food is half gone before I even think about digging out the camera. Food doesn’t last long around these parts.

One of my favorite things we have been doing in the “real food” arena is making our own ice cream with this glorious beauty:

Cuisinart Automatic Ice Cream Maker

Who knew that ice cream made with heavy whipping cream, whole milk and sugar is better for you than the store bought stuff? Especially when the store bought stuff is full of a bunch of ingredients I can’t pronounce. And once I started eating the real stuff, I had no desire to go back to anything from the store. It is so good you can barely eat more than one bowl. Sound like an oxymoron? It isn’t. It is just completely satisfying.

Now plain vanilla is our typical go to ice cream. When it is made with real ingredients you don’t really need anything else. But if I am craving a little something else, I have found the perfect companion for my to die for vanilla. And I came upon it quite by accident. You see, I was at the farmer’s market and happened upon a little herb stand. A little herb stand selling chocolate mint. As in mint leaves that taste like chocolate. So of course I bought some. Because hello?? A leaf that tastes like chocolate mint???

But then I had to figure out what to do with it. I was thinking mojitos or martinis? But then I found this: Chocolate Mint Syrup. And not that the drinks didn’t sound appealing, but some days ice cream sounds better than a good drink (not today by the way…in case you were wondering…why hasn’t school started already?). So I thought I would share it with you in case you can get your hands on some of this fabulous little leaf.

Chocolate Mint Syrup

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup cold water

3/4 cup sugar

30 chocolate mint leaves, rinsed, patted dry, and torn into pieces (You may substitute plain mint)

In a small saucepan, combine the cocoa powder and cold water, and whisk together until smooth.Add the sugar and torn mint leaves and place the saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to melt the sugar. As soon as the syrup begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken and turn glossy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the syrup has cooled to near room temperature, strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a clean jar. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

You’re welcome.

This post is submitted to Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family