Christina's Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream

adapted from Our Best Bites

2 C cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped (about 40-50 cherries)
1 4.5 oz dark chocolate bar (about 1 C shavings, but can't go wrong with more)
1 1/2 c. 2% or whole milk
1 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract

Combine milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs thoroughly. Very slowly, add 1/2 of the hot milk mixture, whisking the yolks constantly. Return pan with remaining milk mixture to stove top and then whisk the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly.

Add whipping cream. Over medium-low heat and stirring constantly, continue heating the custard mixture to 160 degrees. It will start to thicken quickly.

Once ready, remove from heat and add chopped cherries immediately. Add vanilla and almond as well. Let the custard cool (you can use an ice bath if you want to speed that process up) and then place in the fridge to chill for several hours. Once the custard is cooled and chilled, pop it in your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.

While ice cream is churning, grate the chocolate. My favorite tool for grating chocolate is this microplane grater. But a regular cheese grater will suffice just fine

Add the chocolate shavings into the ice cream when there's just a few minutes left. If you wait too long and it's already to thick to really mix it well, just stir them in by hand as you transfer your ice cream into another container. Chill in the freezer for a few hours and then enjoy.