Coffee Ice-Cream anyone?

[yorkshirepud]

Hey Everyone,

I'm on the look out for a good coffee ice-cream, ideally using instant espresso.

I'm don't mind if there's add ins either, though it would need to pair well with chocolate and almonds.

Cheers.

Adele

[Gifted Gourmet]

I really enjoy making this recipe and am pleased every time with the finished ice cream made in my Cuisinart!

[yorkshirepud]

Perfect. That looks like a good one.

Do you know how much instant espresso you sub for instant coffee? The espresso is much stronger. Isn't something like 3 to 1?

I'm also considering this recipe. I'm curious about the use of corn syrup. I wonder if it makes it smoother?

Edited June 1, 2004 by yorkshirepud (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Perfect. That looks like a good one.

Do you know how much instant espresso you sub for instant coffee? The espresso is much stronger. Isn't something like 3 to 1?

I'm also considering this recipe. I'm curious about the use of corn syrup. I wonder if it makes it smoother?

You may be right on the expresso ratio here ...

Thank you for the Williams Sonoma recipe!!

[yorkshirepud]

Well, perhaps we should both make it this weekend and compare results. It seems like a lot of espresso. I wonder how bitter it will be?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Well, perhaps we should both make it this weekend and compare results.    It seems like a lot of espresso.  I wonder how bitter it will be?

a lot of expresso?

3 teaspoons regular instant to 1 teaspoon expresso? why bitter? none too certain ..

I will take your challenge on this .. where shall we have the taste-off? Cooks Illustrated TV??

Wait a moment ..looks to be a misprint in the WS recipe!! 3 TBSP expresso??

Edited June 1, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[yorkshirepud]

The WS recipe calls for 3 tbsps of espresso powder. Seems like a lot. Actually, wait let me check, I'm good for calling it wrong! Yep, 3 tbsps. That would add a lot of bitterness no? Excuse me, I'm just a regular coffee kind a gal!

As for were we can post our results ... I'll be charting it on my blog so you're welcome to post there, or here. I'm easy!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Yep, 3 tbsps. That would add a lot of bitterness no? Excuse me, I'm just a regular coffee kind a gal!

As for were we can post our results ... I'll be charting it on my blog so you're welcome to post there, or here. I'm easy!

That is why I said a misprint .. can't be right ...

Yes, read my Caffeine Blog as I post this.... later on in the week ...

If I am not too shaky from excess caffeine ....

what parameters will meet our impossibly high standards??

a rubric for this??

[yorkshirepud]

Wait a moment ..looks to be a misprint in the WS recipe!! 3 TBSP expresso?? 

Perhaps they mean 3 tsps?

I'll be honest, I'm a little weary of trying a WS recipe (well for ice-cream at least). I tried one the other week that was a total bomb! To much liqueur

and so it never froze. I had to freeze it manually (i.e. threw a tub in the freezer and hoped for the best).

I actually have a yummy looking recipe (in Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book ) for a Kahlua Amaretto Ice Cream, but I'm worried the cream won't freeze as there is a total of 1/2 cup liqueur in it. Mmmmm

Edited June 1, 2004 by yorkshirepud (log)

[yorkshirepud]

You know, I think it is a misprint.

I was just looking at the Cappuccino recipe in Ben & Jerry's. They use the same ratio of dairy but call for 3 1/2 tbsps of instant coffee, which would be roughly 1 tbsp of instant espresso.

Edited June 1, 2004 by yorkshirepud (log)

[Swisskaese]

I want to try this recipe, it also calls for 3 tbsp of instant espresso. I don't think it will be too much, but I like my coffee strong.

Coffee Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

http://www.hungrymonster.com/recipe/recipe...ipe_id_int=8717

[Gifted Gourmet]

I want to try this recipe, it also calls for 3 tbsp of instant espresso. I don't think it will be too much, but I like my coffee strong.

Coffee Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

http://www.hungrymonster.com/recipe/recipe...ipe_id_int=8717

The recipe looks good, except for this:

serves 1 on the top left side .... 4703 Calories

while I love ice cream dearly ,

this is a bit of a stretch for me calorically ...

[tan319]

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow.

I make a coffee cardamom ice cream that has yolks in it, and although I make a base that is a bit more "industrial", I use 600 grams of brewed espresso and 100 grams of beans for the infusion.

This is to make 4 quarts but you get my drift?

Good luck on your journey!

Edited June 2, 2004 by tan319 (log)

[yorkshirepud]

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow.

Could you explain why? The recipe has 6 egg yolks.

[jackal10]

I like the recipe from Elizabeth David's "French Provincial Cooking"

Wonderful texture and a fine flavour.

She crushes coffee beans in a mortar before infusing in the cream.

I cheat and use fresh coarse ground; I like the fine flecks of coffee bean left in the ice cream after straining theough a fine sieve.

My adaptation:

Mix together

4oz coffee beans, coarse ground

1 Pint cream

3 egg yolks

3 oz soft brown sugar (cassonade)

strip lemon peel

Gently bring to the boil, remove from heat, let get cold, strain through a fine sieve

Fold in 1/4 pint heavy (double) cream lightly whipped with a tbs white sugar.

Freeze and churn

[Swisskaese]

[The recipe looks good, except for this:

serves 1 on the top left side .... 4703 Calories

while I love ice cream dearly ,

this is a bit of a stretch for me calorically ...

I didn't even notice the calories!

Obviously, this recipe does not serve one, unless you are really depressed and need to eat the entire recipe to make you feel better.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Obviously, this recipe does not serve one, unless you are really depressed and need to eat the entire recipe to make you feel better.

Yo!

[tan319]

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow.

Could you explain why? The recipe has 6 egg yolks.

well, the yolks mellow it out because of the fat, for one thing, I would say.

Remember, you have 3 TBS of a dehydrated espresso, how much would you use to make yourself a cup to drink, that tasted like one?

If you're afraid of going too far, reconstitute those 3 TBS in a bit of water, to make an extract, so to speak, and add it to your mix after bringing it to temp ( making your anglaise base).

That way, you can control the amount.

Remember, the fats are going to mellow the taste.

Yesterday, I was working on a peanut butter ice cream to accompany a new dessert.

This was using an eggless base, and I couldn't believe how much p-nut butter i had to use, not to mention salt to bring the pnut flavor up!

The flavour got there but it was quite interesting to see how it developed.

Hope all this helps.

Good Luck.

[yorkshirepud]

Thanks Tan319.

It does help but what I don't understand (bear with me ) is why fat mellows the bitterness of the espresso. Is it because of the added richness?

Good idea about reconstituting the espresso. If I decide not to throw caution to wind and just do it, I'll do that instead.

Based on your findings with the eggless PB ice-cream am I right in thinking perhaps fat brings out the flavour of ingredients? Kind of like how salt works?

[fredbram]

I would guess that the fact that ice cream is eaten frozen could also increase the amounts of flavor needed--cold temperature deadens the flavors some.

[yorkshirepud]

I would guess that the fact that ice cream is eaten frozen could also increase the amounts of flavor needed--cold temperature deadens the flavors some.

That's true. I remember reading the same thing is true of sugar.

[tan319]

Thanks Tan319.

It does help but what I don't understand (bear with me ) is why fat mellows the bitterness of the espresso. Is it because of the added richness?

Good idea about reconstituting the espresso. If I decide not to throw caution to wind and just do it, I'll do that instead.

Based on your findings with the eggless PB ice-cream am I right in thinking perhaps fat brings out the flavour of ingredients? Kind of like how salt works?

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc.

And yes, it mellows the bitterness out, just like cream in your coffee, no?

I think that's the reason (bear with me, now), why a lot of chefs are using what I call the more "industrial" recipes for ice cream.

Using dry ingredients such as nonfat dry milk powder, and other things that get some people riled up.

You still have richness but flavor cuts thru more.

Mind you, I use yolks in most recipes still, but sometimes don't, like in the Peanut butter ice cream, there's more than enough fat in that!

Salt is very important.

I season almost everything that I make for dessert with it.

[mags]

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow.

I make a coffee cardamom ice cream that has yolks in it, and although I make a base that is a bit more "industrial", I use 600 grams of brewed espresso and 100 grams of beans for the infusion.

This is to make 4 quarts but you get my drift?

Good luck on your journey!

Ted, I LOVE the coffee and cardomom idea. How much cardomom do you use for your 4-quart batch?

[yorkshirepud]

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc.

Ted, I just reading earlier on baking911.com that the egg yolks in ice-cream act as an emulsifier. Therefore, because they help disperse fat droplets evenly, the ice cyrstals are forced to be smaller resulting is a much smoother end product with a more desirable 'mouth feel'. This explains why lower fat ice-cream (at least those made at home) just don't cut it.

You're right about the change in coffee taste when I put in milk. I never thought to look at it way. Thanks.

Edited June 2, 2004 by yorkshirepud (log)

[phaelon56]

As a self-confessed espresso and coffee freak who also loves ice cream, I felt compeled to peruse this thread, depsite havign no immediate plans to make my own ice cream. I've used Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso powder when making a frozen frappuccino cloen drink and yes.... when milk and sugar are involved the amount can be bumped up beyond normal.

The characteristics that idetnify a truly great fresh espresso shots include mouthfeel and crema but these are irrelevant to soem extent when using espresso in a frozen drink or dessert. Bitterness is a different story. Acrid bitterness in brewed espresso can come from a variety of sources including incorrect temperatures or brewing times, overroasted beans or variety of beans used. I suspect that instant espresso is a good compromise but the real taste is in the taste - reconstitute it with some water and taste - if it's excessively bitter in an acrid way it's not good. In my frappuccino experiments I had very good results by doing the following:

Make some drip coffee that is extra strong by using about half the amount of water. Add a tsp or two of espresso powder to the coffee to punch up the flavor, allow to cool and blend with dairy and ice ingredients.

One thing worth noting is this: using good quality fresh-roasted coffee beans will produce the quality of coffee needed for best results in a dessert product. Don't use Folger's, Maxwell House or even the bulk whole bean coffee that's been sitting in your grocer's bulk coffee bin for weeks at a time. Try to find a good local micro-roaster who pays attention to roast dates or find a good mail-order source for same. People often insist on using the best quality, vanilla, cream, butter etc. in their desserts - don't skimp on the coffee!!!