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Ahhh Its nice to be back writing about what I love, food and all things food related. I will say the past three months has had it's ups and downs but food always seemed to be there! For instance, meeting new family members and eating Southern BBQ at Sticky Fingers, Crappy pizza at the hotel while laughing so hard we cant see each other and most of all, our first home cooked meal at our new place!
I bought a small electric ice cream maker at a grocery store a few years back and the recipes that were included with the maker was not very good. It turned out to be a mock ice cream more than anything so I put it away and while unpacking I decided to use it or it was going into the donate pile. I remember having an ice cream maker as a child. My cousins Aaron and Breena had lived next door to us before we moved to Timberline.
One summers night my parents and auntie had gotten the ice cream maker out. I remember we had chocolate and vanilla and it was the best I had ever had as a kid. I also remember the tedious cranking of the handle and the crunching sound it made as the canister rotated in the ice and rock salt. I am grateful to have the electric ice cream maker but I think some how the anticipation you have with the old fashioned cranked makers added more flavor and you appreciated it more. I wanted to share with you a recipe for Java Chip Ice Cream that I snagged from Kitchen Konfidence. I am so glad I did because it was delicious! So without further ado, please enjoy the following recipe.
Equipment needed
Pot
Fine Mesh Strainer
large bowl and medium bowl for ice bath
mallet
Ice cream machine
Java chip Ice Cream
3 tablespoons coffee beans
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar
10 large egg yolks
Pinch of kosher salt
A cap of Mexican Vanilla (my own added addition)
5 oz chocolate chips of your choice (Or use as much as you want!)
Coffee is the Star in this recipe so please make sure you use the freshest beans you can find. I used Millhouse Organic Mayan Black Onyx Blend Coffee because I wanted the dark roast flavor in the ice cream.
Put coffee beans out in a zip lock baggie. Using a kitchen mallet or anything else you feel like smashing with and smash the coffee beans, Have fun but don't go to crazy as you will strain these out later in the recipe.
Place milk, heavy cream, smashed coffee beans and ½ cup of sugar into a large pot. Bring mixture to just below a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pot from the heat and let steep, uncovered for 1 hour
The longer it sits, the darker the cream will be so don't worry if your cream mixture is light at the start. This would be a great time to begin whisking the 6 tablespoons of sugar and the 10 yolks in a bowl until it slightly thickens. After the 1hr reheat your cream mixture and bring it back to a simmer.
Now we must use the fancy technique of tempering. This is so we don't get scrambled eggs in our ice cream. Its not really fancy and quite simple. Just makes you feel more cheffy when you temper things! While whisking your eggs, slowly add ½ cup of the hot milk mixture to the yolks. Once your eggs are brought up to temperature of your milk mixture you can add the entire pot. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a clean pot and strain the milk-yolk and coffee mixture. Your ice cream base should now look something like the picture to your right.
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Set a medium sized bowl in the ice bath and have another strainer ready. This is pretty important because once you start heating up your ice cream base again to thicken it, you can scorch the milk when using an electric stove top and you don't want that in your ice cream.
Put the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. You will know the custard is thick enough when you see steam rise from the surface and the custard coats the spoon. Strain the custard into the ice bath bowl, add the kosher salt. Once cooled add your Mexican Vanilla and stir to incorporate the mixture. Refrigerate until cold. I left my ice cream base in the ice bath for about a half hour and then I placed it in the ice box for another half hour or so. This is important because if you do not do this step, it takes longer to make your ice cream and your chocolate chips will melt.
Freeze the ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is three quarters of the way done, add chocolate chips. I let my machine continue to mix however when I returned to the kitchen (20 mins or so later) I noticed my machine had stopped because the ice cream was thick. Just keep an eye on your machine so you don't burn the motor.
We kept the container in the freezer and had a wonderful creamy java chip ice cream for snack. I wanted to pull it out earlier but I noticed the ice cream base was more at an ice custard stage vs a hard ice cream stage. So depending on how you like it, depends how long you can keep it in the freezer. My boyfriend loved this ice cream and he is not a sweet eating type of person so I felt it was a huge success. Kitchen Konfidence also had a Earl Grey and Lemon Cookie Dough Ice Cream recipe that I want to try. I am not a lemon kinda gal but I am open to try some new flavor combinations. So we shall see. Below is what the ice cream looked like for me. All in all I loved making this and it brought the kid out in me!
