French Vanilla Coffee Ice Cream

Well, the real reason I made a very strong coffee ice cream, that you indeed can clearly see those tiny darling specks of grounds, was because a tin of French Vanilla coffee that was accidentally purchased. And I hate French Vanilla coffee, maybe not hate, that’s a bit harsh BUTTT I strongly dislike it. I strongly dislike any flavored coffee, especially ones that have artificial flavors blended in with those beautiful and pure coffee grounds. No way, please, don’t mess with my amazing, soothing and invigorating scent of ground coffee!

Now, I know what you’re thinking, with the amount of coffee used in this ice cream, that it would taste like pure coffee grounds. And although you do get bits of coffee grounds, the taste is intense but in no way like an actual cup of coffee. The French vanilla flavoring is subtle throughout, and instantaneously tasted at first lick. Of course it’s the level of caffeine that is quite higher than your typical coffee ice cream. Why does the intense dark coffee color give it away??

Oh, but how delightful it is!

To all my coffee aficionados, you’re welcome! 

French Vanilla Coffee Ice Cream

{Makes 1 quart}

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups – 2% or Whole Milk {or a combination of 3/4 cup Milk + 1 3/4 cups Heavy Cream}

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup – French Vanilla finely Ground Coffee {the more ground coffee, the stronger the coffee flavor — if you prefer a lighter coffee taste use 1/4 cup}

1/2 cup – Granulated Sugar

1/4 teaspoon – Salt

5 large – Egg Yolks

Recipe {Adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones}

To infuse the milk with coffee flavor…..

1. In a medium saucepan add in the milk {or milk and heavy cream combination}, ground coffee, 1/4 cup of the sugar and salt.
2. Stir together and heat over medium-high heat. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat and leave the lid closed.
3. Allow to steep until milk has taken on a strong coffee flavor, stirring occasionally to monitor the taste {about 15 minutes}. 

To make the base…..

1. In medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks, just to break them up, along with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place the container you’ll be storing your ice cream base in an ice water bath.
2. Strain the coffee-infused milk with a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. *(Repeat if coffee-infused milk still has a bit of the grounds** Wipe saucepan if many coffee grounds remain. 
3. Return coffee-infused milk back into your saucepan and place over medium heat.
4. Once the mixture begins to simmer, slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot coffee-milk mixture into the yolk mixture, while whisking quickly. Add one or two more ladles of the coffee-milk mixture into the yolks. **Make sure to whisk quickly, so you don’t cook and curdle the eggs.**
5. Using a heat-proof spatula, stir the coffee-milk mixture as you slowly add in the hot egg-milk mixture to the saucepan.
6. Carefully cook the ice cream base over medium heat, stirring constantly until it has thickened, about 3 minutes. **The mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon, holding a clear separated path when you run your finger through it**
7. Strain the ice cream base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean, chilled container set over an ice-water bath. Using a clean spatula, stir the base frequently until it has cooled to room temperature. Remove it from the ice-water bath and cover the top directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.**

Freeze the ice cream…..

1. In your ice cream machine following your manufacturer’s directions, gently pour in your ice cream base as the machine is slowly running. While the ice cream churns, put the container you’ll be keeping your ice cream in the freezer.
2. The ice cream is ready once it reaches the consistency of soft-serve, or the paddle creates a distinctive path as it churns {about 15 to 25 minutes}. This ice cream is on the smoother side because of its high sugar content.
   1. **Be careful NOT to over churn it, there’s no fixing it at that point. The timing of freezing your ice cream will depend on the thickness of you ice cream base, the machine your using and the conditions of your kitchen**
      
3. Place the churned ice cream into your container, and freeze up to 2 hours for a firm soft-serve consistency.
   1. Then Enjoy it until the last spoonful!!!