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Coffee Ice Cream
By Randy Wilson, Fri Dec 9th
If you haven't tried coffee ice cream, you have missed one ofthe most delicious and delightful uses to which this wondrousbean can be put. If you thought coffee was only a hot drink forperking yourself up, then you need to think again. Coffee is avery versatile thing, and lends itself equally well to drinksand to desserts, and even has medicinal uses. Worldwide, coffee is one the most popular flavors for ice cream.All the top-selling ice cream brands sell the flavor, and nowyou can enjoy some without running to your nearestBaskin-Robbins outlet! Make some coffee ice cream in your home -here's how. First, be sure to select quality coffee beans only, because anycompromise on this is likely to ruin the flavor of your coffeeice cream. Arabica beans are preferred over Robusta. Take abouthalf a cup and roast it in the microwave at 400° Fahrenheit for10 minutes or so. Then crush them fine and store them in anairtight container.
Add about two cups of milk to two cups of heavy cream, and mixin the crushed beans. Pour the mixture in a saucepan over thefire and bring it to just under a boil, stirring all the while.Then take it off the fire and wait for an hour or so, while itcools and the coffee spreads its flavor throughout. Coffee icecream must be evenly flavored, and concentrations of coffee inparticular spots can only harm the overall effect. Collect the yolks of 8 eggs, and add slightly less than a cup ofsugar to them. Pour the milk-and-cream
mixture into theeggs-and-sugar, and whisk thoroughly till the whole thing isquite blended together.Put the new mixture into the saucepan and cook it over a mediumheat. You should use a wooden spoon to stir it constantly,because metal can react and destroy the flavor of coffee icecream. You'll know it's done when the broth thickens slightly,and begins to coat the backside of the wooden spoon. Take it offthe fire and pass it through a fine-meshed strainer, to take outthe coarser remnants and possible eggshell bits. Pour the custard-like stuff into an ice cream maker and freezeaccording to the manufacturer's instructions. Adding somehome-made coffee brittles at this point would be a nice touch,both as garnish and flavoring agent. You can easily make somewith espresso beans, sugar and butter, but that is the subjectof another article. If you intend to do this, then don't waittill the coffee ice cream is totally frozen, but pour itsemi-soft into another container and stir the brittles in. Thenuse plastic wrap to cover it tightly, before freezing. Theleftover brittles, if any, would be a nice touch if sprinkled ontop before serving. These measures yield about a litre of coffee ice cream; if youneed more, adjust according to ratio.
About the author:© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved. |
