Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirls

I am not a big coffee drinker, but I love coffee flavored anything - especially if it is in the form of ice cream.  As usual, I follow David Lebovitz's recipe, but I added in some melted chocolate that get broken up into little yummy chocolate pieces.  

Steep the coffee beans in the milk for about 1 hour

Melt the chocolate

After you scribble the chocolate over the ice cream mix it in to break it up into little pieces

Delicious!

Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

³⁄₄ cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

Pinch of salt

Coffee with Chocolate Swirls:

1 ¹⁄₂ cups whole coffee beans, either regular or decaf

5 ounces chopped, bittersweet or semisweet, chocolate

In a medium saucepan mix, 1 cup of the cream, the whole milk, granulated sugar and salt. Warm over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan.  About 3-4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the coffee beans, cover and let stand for an hour to infuse the flavor.

Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water.  Place a smaller bowl, filled with the remaining cup of cream, into the ice bath.

In a medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks.

Rewarm the cream and coffee beans until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan.  In a steady stream pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens slightly.  The custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and hold a line drawn through it with a finger.  If using an instant-read thermometer the temperature should be between 175-180°F.

Strain the custard into the cold cream.

Cool the custard to below 70°F by stirring it over the ice bath.

Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours to overnight.  Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Place a container (the one your just frozen ice cream will go into) into the freezer.  While the ice cream is in the ice cream maker melt the chocolate in a small bowl set over simmering water.  Stir until smooth.  

Once the ice cream is complete scribble some of the melted chocolate in the container from the freezer.  Add a layer of ice cream and mix to break up the chocolate.  Scribble some more chocolate and another layer of ice cream and mix again.  Continue until you have used up all of the ice cream and chocolate.  

Place the ice cream in the freezer and freeze for several hours or until firm.

Adapted from Fine Cooking Issue 99

Half a Year and Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches

It has been way too long since I've been able to sit down and add some new recipes.  Life has been a bit crazy, but hopefully we can get back into the rhythm of posting some of our favorites.  

We celebrate L's birthday party with her friends during the first part of December.  For her dessert she wanted peppermint ice cream chocolate cookie sandwiches.  Done.  I love peppermint ice cream and who doesn't like chocolate?

The best part is everything can be made ahead of time.  And since I am also making 10 gingerbread houses for her friends to decorate ahead of time is a necessity.  

Chocolate Cookies: bake and freeze the cookies before you try to add in the ice cream

ingredients:

10 ounces bittersweet, chopped
¹⁄₂ cup + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¹⁄₄ teaspoon baking powder
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Melt the chopped chocolate in top of a double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over the water and cool melted chocolate for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. In another medium bowl use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter until crumbly.   Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until mixture is light, pale, and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat just until blended. Fold in the dry ingredients and then the chocolate chips.

Drop chocolate cookie batter by ¹⁄₄ cupfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until tops are evenly cracked but cookies are not yet firm to touch, about 16 minutes. Cool cookies completely on baking sheets. Using metal spatula, carefully transfer 4 cookies to each of 4 large resealable plastic bags, arranging in single layer. Freeze cookies overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen.)

Makes 16 cookies.

Recipe by Tom Douglas in Bon Appétit, July 2005 

Peppermint Ice Cream:

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

³⁄₄ cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

Pinch of table salt

Candy Canes

In a medium saucepan mix, 1 cup of the cream, the whole milk, granulated sugar and salt. Warm over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan.  About 3-4 minutes.

Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water.  Place a smaller bowl, filled with the remaining cup of cream, into the ice bath.

In a medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks.

When there are tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan, pour half of the cream mixture, in a steady stream, into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens slightly.  The custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and hold a line drawn through it with a finger.  If using an instant-read thermometer, the temperature should be between 175-180°F.

Strain the custard into the cold cream until it has cooled to below 70°F.  While it is cooling you can you can break up the candy canes.  (I use about a half of a box of the small candy canes you find in the grocery stores around christmas, but use your best judgement and taste as you go.  I unwrap the candy canes and put them in a plastic ziplock bag rolling over them with a rolling pin until there are tiny bits of candy.)  

Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours to overnight.  Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Fold the broken candy canes into the just churned ice cream, transfer to an air-tight container and freeze until firm.

Adapted from Fine Cooking Issue 99

To assemble:

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place half of the cookies on the baking sheets. Take out the ice cream and place one scoop of ice cream onto each of the cookies. Working quickly place the cookie tops onto the ice cream and press down lightly.  Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and place back into the freezer.  I leave the ice cream sandwiches on the trays until I am ready to serve them but you could also place them in freezer bags.  

Makes 8 ice cream sandwiches.

Quick and Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches

We like to make things from scratch - ice cream, cookies, caramel sauce etc....but sometimes life gets in the way and it's just not possible.  For those days when I need a fun dessert or am just craving something sweet but seem to have no time for anything...all I need  is a few minutes and few ingredients:

Take 2 of these

Spread a little of the caramel sauce on the insides of both cookies and put a small scoop of chocolate ice cream in the middle

Close the cookie up, add a little shaved chocolate and voila!  A tasty, tiny treat!  They can be a bit messy especially with a 3 year old "helping", but that's part of the fun of it :)

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

One of my favorite things to make is ice cream.  It's easy, it's doesn't take a lot of time, it is so much better than store bought ice cream and everyone (at least in my family) loves ice cream. If you have mint growing in your garden this a fun one to make with kids - L has a lot of fun helping to make (and taste) this one!  

The base recipe I use for ice cream is always the same.  It's from an article in Fine Cooking by David Lebovitz and it's the best one I have found.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

³⁄₄ cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

Pinch of table salt

Mint Chocolate Chip:

2 cups tightly packed, torn mint leaves

¹⁄₃ cup chopped, semisweet, chocolate

In a medium saucepan mix, 1 cup of the cream, the whole milk, granulated sugar and salt.  Warm over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan.  About 3-4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the mint, cover and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water.  Place a smaller bowl, filled with the remaining cup of cream, into the ice bath.

In a medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks.

Rewarm the cream and mint until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan.  In a steady stream pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens slightly.  The custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and hold a line drawn through it with a finger.  If using an intant-read thermometer the temperature should be between 175-180°F.

Strain the custard into the cold cream pressing the mint with a spoon to extract as much flavor as possible.

Cool the mint to below 70°F by stirring it over the ice bath.

Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours to overnight.  Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Fold the chopped chocolate into the just churned ice cream, transfer to an air-tight container and freeze for until firm.

Adapted from Fine Cooking Issue 99