How to Make Coffee Ice Cream

Coffee ice cream is a rich, sweet treat that many enjoy. While an affogato (which is itself delicious) can be made in a few minutes by pouring a shot of espresso over ice cream, coffee ice cream rewards those who put in the time and effort required to make it with a coffee flavor that permeates the ice cream itself. If you’d like to try making this delectable delight, here’s a great coffee ice cream recipe.

Use Great Coffee for Great Coffee Ice Cream

The heart of any dish is its ingredients, and you need great coffee to make great coffee ice cream. Using high-quality beans that are freshly roasted will give your finished ice cream depth, character and flavor that are hard to find in commercially made coffee ice creams.

While any coffee we roast will make delicious coffee ice cream, you might want to use either a Classic Profile or Bold Profile coffee the first time you make coffee ice cream. These are our two darker roasts, so they’ll add more body to your ice cream than lighter coffees.

Our Fruity Profile and Balanced Profile coffees can add fun flavors to an ice cream, but their origin characteristics can also be muted by the cream and sugar in ice cream. Try experimenting with them after you’ve made coffee ice cream with a darker roast first so that you can see the subtle nuances the lighter roast levels add.

How to Make Coffee Ice Cream

To make coffee ice cream, you will need:

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 ⅔ cups whole milk
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons medium-ground coffee
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• an ice cream maker

Many of these ingredients can be adjusted to your personal tastes. For example, if you want more coffee flavor, use more coffee. Conversely, if you like less coffee flavor, increase the heavy cream and milk to 2 cups each, or use less coffee. You can even adjust the grind setting you use — experiment and see what you like.

With these ingredients gathered follow these steps:

1. In a saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar and coffee.
2. Heat the mixture on the stove, using a low setting and stirring regularly to prevent it from scalding. Bring the mixture up to 150°F. (Use a thermometer to check the temperature.)
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, and then add 1 cup of the cream to the egg yolks.
4. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the saucepan, with the rest of the milk, cream, sugar and coffee.
5. Bring the temperature up to 170°F, continuing to stir regularly.
6. Add the salt to taste.
7. Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or other container.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, taking care to press the plastic wrap against the mixture to prevent a skin from forming.
9. Chill in the refrigerator until the mixture is 41°F or colder, which typically takes at least 2 hours.
10. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
11. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours prior to serving

Steeping coffee in milk will extract different compounds than brewing it with water will because the brewing temperature is much lower. For coffee ice cream, though, steeping grounds in milk (and leaving them in it once the ice cream’s made) is the best way to make a rich, creamy dessert that doesn’t have ice cubes in it.

It’s Your Turn – Try It Out and Tell Us How It Turned Out In The Comments

If you’ve never made your own coffee ice cream with freshly roasted coffee, you’re in for a great treat. The next time we send you coffee, reserve some to make coffee ice cream with. If you don’t already get our coffee, you can sign up for a trial subscription here.