Make Coffee Ice Cream Full Of Rich, Deep Espresso Flavors

I Melt With You is a new ice cream column from The Takeout. I'll be here all summer with new ice cream recipes, unique ingredients, equipment recommendations, and ways to make your home ice cream experience as easy and fun as possible. I am always up for a challenge, so feel free to send flavor requests to hello@thetakeout.com. If you want to see some of the flavors I have been developing for you, feel free to pop over to my IG @stacey.ballis and scroll back for some serious ice cream content.

The issue I have with most coffee ice cream flavors is that they are so milky that the coffee taste seems like an afterthought. I wanted a deep, rich coffee flavor with serious punch. So, this ice cream again uses layers of flavoring to enhance how the coffee hits your tongue.

If you can source the espresso morsels, it is worth it. Trader Joe's makes a great coffee syrup, as does Fox's U-Bet. Be sure to use instant espresso powder and not instant coffee. The ice cream doesn't need any mix-ins at all, but if you love a coffee toffee ice cream, feel free to add those brickle bits, and if you have some chocolate covered espresso beans, those are also delicious additions, too.

Makes about 1 ½ quarts

• 1½ cups (360 g) heavy cream
• ¾ cup (120 g) Nestle Toll House Espresso Baking Morsels or caramelized white chocolate chips
• ¾ cup (180 g) buttermilk or whole milk
• ¼ cup (60 g) sugar
• 2 Tbsp. (45 g) Trader Joe's coffee syrup or honey
• 2 Tbsp. (20 g) vodka (Note: this helps keep the ice cream from freezing too hard. If you prefer to not include any alcohol, you will want to let the frozen ice cream sit out an extra 5-10 minutes before scooping for optimal texture.)
• 2 Tbsp. (12 g) milk powder
• 2 tsp. coffee extract
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. (15 g) instant espresso powder
• Pinch salt

• 1 cup (150 g) toffee brickle bits or chopped toffee bars

Or

• 1 cup (150 g) chocolate covered espresso beans

Heat cream with the chocolate in microwave about 2 minutes to create a fast ganache. Blend with immersion blender or in regular blender to perfect smoothness. Add the rest of the ingredients, and blend again. The dry ingredients will want to clump on you, so keep a lookout for that.

Once the mixture is well blended and smooth, taste it to be sure you like the balance of flavors. If it doesn't feel sweet enough to you, or a flavor is not coming through well enough, add more of what you need, up to a tablespoon more sugar. It should be quite sweet, because flavors mute on freezing. Once satisfied, pour into a sealed container and chill to cure the flavor, 6-24 hours. It should be very chilled before you start churning.

Churn according to your machine's directions, then fold in any mix-ins, if using. Transfer to containers and freeze for at least 8 hours, or overnight for best texture.