Coffee Ice Cream

Hi!

I can’t believe we are only 26 days into the new year and it feels like… honestly I don’t know what it feels like anymore. Everything all at once? Cooking is my happy space, always. Doesn’t matter if it is pasta for my kids or a recipe for you guys. I know I usually try to keep this a place full of sugar and spice and a little bit of sass. But with everything going on in the world, it felt weird just jumping into the sweet. Wherever you are - I hope you are well. I hope your loved ones are happy. I hope your community is safe. And I see so many people in food being unfollowed for sharing their personal views on what is going on, whether it is in the US, Iran, Gaza or Ukraine. But the thing is - food is political. It has always been political.

Growing up, my mom taught Danish to migrants who had fled war torn countries or personal persecution. And every single chance they had, they would share the food from their countries with each other, with their teachers and thankfully, me! . Even as a kid it was easy to understand how important food was as more than just an overly full belly, it was history and culture written in recipes they had brought with them.

I didn’t grow up with recipes passed down through generations, and to be fair my desserts are an eclectic mix of whatever the eff I think taste good together. Sometimes simple, sometimes not. But my endless love of flavour is deeply rooted in the food generously shared with me growing up.

Today’s recipe wasn’t really planned for today. I had other plans (a spiced caramelised beetroot chocolate cake) that failed miserably. Again. I accept defeat, I will never make a beetroot cake I like. But that means I get to share this coffee ice cream with you instead.

Now typically I have made coffee infused ice creams, but to be honest they don’t pack the flavour punch I want. It is also a recipe that takes a few special ingredients (skimmed milk powder, glucose syrup) since I add chilled coffee to the mixture rather than infusing beans. Adding more water to the ice cream means we need more solids (milk powder) to make the ice cream not feel watery on the palette. The milk powder absorbs the extra water and gives a much nicer mouthfeel in the finished ice cream. This same base can also be used to make citrus ice creams (one of my favourites is lemon ice cream - infuse the milk mixture with lemon zest and don’t add the citrus juice to the mixture until it is cold. Otherwise you will split and curdle your ice cream mixture)

Coffee Ice Cream

Makes 1l base

400g whole milk
300g strong brewed coffee
125g heavy cream
60g skimmed milk powder
50g glucose syrup

120g sugar
80g egg yolks / about 4 large
Pinch of salt

Add the whole milk, coffee, heavy cream, glucose and skimmed milk powder to a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture is steaming hot, but not boiling.

Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and airy. Ladle the hot milk mixture over the egg yolks while whisking rigorously. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook while stirring until the temperature reads 85C on an instant read thermometer.

Immediately pour into a clean bowl and place in the ice bath. Cool the custard to 5-10C, stirring occasionally, before straining into a lidded container. Season to taste with a generous pinch of salt.

Chill in the refrigerator at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Liquify the custard using an immersion blender churn in an ice cream maker according to instructions or transfer the custard to Ninja Creami containers and freeze until solid before processing.

Freeze the finished ice cream in lidded containers for at least a few hours before serving.