During the early 1900s, chocolate was generally consumed as a warm beverage, but soon after the "cold" version took over. A particularly popular dish was cream chilled by a "secchio-macchina", the machine used to make Italian chocolate gelato.

1

Heat the milk in a saucepan, add the crumbled chocolate and melt over a very low heat. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let cool. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until clear and frothy.

2

Add the egg cream to the cooled chocolate mixture little by little, then return to stove and cook over low heat until the cream thickens and covers the back of a wooden spoon. The mixture should never reach a boil.

3

Remove from heat, strain and let cool for at least 2 hours before pouring the mixture into an ice cream maker. Serve immediately, in bowls decorated with a bit of whipped cream.