Triple Chocolate Milkshake

Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne is the first book in her new series, Goliaths of Wrestling.  This book is a cute, low-angst queer romance between Holt, an empyn who can feel other people’s emotions, and Taylor, a human. The second book in this series, Clean Finish, was just published a couple weeks ago. And the cute, low-angst vibes of this series continue in that romance between Larkin, Holt’s fae assistant, and Seb, Holt’s werewolf bodyguard. I really enjoyed reading both of these books and I can’t wait for the third book in the series to be released.

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In Impromptu Match, Holt and Taylor meet one night after a misunderstanding (involving a lemon birthday cake) that causes Taylor to discover the underground monster wrestling league owned by Holt. Taylor has been stuck in a rut while working at his mundane job as a marketing assistant, so it was fun to see his life become more joyous and exciting while his relationship with Holt developed throughout the book.

I contemplated recreating the infamous lemon birthday cake from the beginning of this book, partly because of Taylor’s hilarious reactions to the cake.  I even took pictures of these quotes and sent them to my sister, who passionately dislikes lemon-flavored desserts.

I accepted a slice of cake on a paper plate from Sharon with a smile and a somewhat enthusiastic, “Thanks,” even though it was a lemon cake, which was the cake choice of evil villain overlords hellbent on sowing chaos and destruction, in my opinion.
           
“It’s really good!” Mindy said cheerfully. “I love lemon cake. I’m glad Sharon chose it.”

Are you Mindy? Are you really glad, or is your eye twitching slightly as you eat it because deep down, you know lemon cake is what the devil would choose to torture all the damned souls in hell with?
Oh god, maybe this was hell. And Sharon from Accounts was the devil.

-Chapter Two, Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne

Instead of recreating the lemon birthday cake though, I decided to recreate a milkshake from one of Holt and Taylor’s dates. While on a cute date around town, Holt and Taylor get milkshakes from Shriek Shakes, a small milkshake shop run by a banshee.  I would love to be able to visit this milkshake shop sometime because it sounds like they have a lot of interesting flavors. Holt got a maple syrup and bacon shake called The Last Breakfast of a Man Marked for Death, while Taylor got a triple chocolate milkshake called The Mud Cleansed from the Clothes of Those About to Meet Their End.

The milkshake flavors/names sounded amusing to me, so I thought it would be fun to recreate them. This also gave me the opportunity to try out more recipes for no-churn ice cream (given my love of ice cream, I’ll likely purchase an ice cream maker eventually). And this triple chocolate milkshake turned out to be a delicious treat for a summer afternoon.

Triple Chocolate Milkshake
(Or The Mud Cleansed from the Clothes of Those About to Meet Their End)

SERVINGS: 2 large milkshakes

INGREDIENTS

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
5-6oz. sweetened condensed milk (about 1/3 of a 14oz. can)
3 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate  (Note 1)
12 oz. evaporated milk (one can)

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
4 cups chocolate ice cream, homemade (see recipe below) or store-bought
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup coarsely chopped or partially crushed chocolate cookies  (Note 2)
Chocolate syrup
Whipped cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

1. Chop or break the chocolate into fine pieces. Combine the chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk and heat it until the chocolate is mostly melted. (I used the microwave to melt the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk on medium heat in intervals of 10-15 seconds.)
2. Stir the chocolate mixture until smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Then set it aside to cool.
3. Pour the evaporated milk into a large metal bowl. Then add the chocolate mixture to the evaporated milk and whisk until completely combined.
4. Cover the metal bowl tightly with a well-fitting lid or plastic wrap and freeze for about 2 hours until the mixture is partially frozen.
5. Then remove the bowl from the freezer and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until the mixture is foamy, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Pour the mixture into a deep freezer-safe container or bowl, like a 9-inch (23 centimeters) loaf pan, cover tightly with a well-fitting lid or plastic wrap, and freeze for about 2 hours.
7. Stir the ice cream and continue freezing until firm, about 2-4 hours.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE

1. Place two drink or milkshake glasses in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Using a blender, blend together the ice cream, milk, and half of the crushed cookies for about 1-2 minutes until the mixture is fairly smooth and the cookies are mixed in but not pulverized.
3. Remove the glasses from the refrigerator and drizzle chocolate syrup on the inside of the glasses.
4. Pour the milkshakes into the glasses and top with the remaining crushed cookies and whipped cream (if using). Serve immediately.

RECIPE NOTES

1. For this recipe, I would recommend using chocolate bars or chocolate chips that contain about 60% cacao, but you can use between 35 and 70 percent cacao depending on if you prefer a sweeter or darker flavor.
2. I used chocolate Teddy Grahams, but any type of chocolate cookie would work for this recipe.