The Ultimate (Egg-Free) Coffee Ice Cream Recipe
When groups like Harris Interactive Polls and the International Ice Cream Association ask people to list their favorite ice cream flavors, coffee ice cream barely cracks the top ten. More people like peanut butter ice cream than like coffee ice cream, and we think that's downright ridiculous. We also think there's a very good reason for that. It's because most coffee ice cream is made with substandard coffee -- coffee that most serious coffee drinkers wouldn't let near their drip cones.
A couple of years ago, our resident culinary coffee expert Deb Powers set out to create an ice cream recipe that highlights all the flavors that true coffee lovers have come to expect in their cup. We tapped her to go through our current roasters, pick a coffee and revisit her recipe with that particular coffee in mind. Deb picked Ortega Estate Guatemala from Thrive Coffee Farmers, which features rich, full body, bold dark chocolate flavors and a hint of sweet cherry fruitiness. Those underlying flavors impart their own sweetness to the ice cream mixture and hold their own against the rich cream.
Egg-Free Coffee Ice Cream Recipe
Rich, smooth and creamy, this egg-free coffee ice cream recipe uses a novel infusion method and a few surprise ingredients to create the most flavorful, decadent coffee ice cream you've ever tasted.
Prep time: 40 minutes Freeze time: 4 hours Yield: 1 quart Ingredients- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 1/2 oz.. softened cream cheese
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup whole coffee beans
- 1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp. light corn syrup
- pinch kosher salt
- Mix 1/8 cup of milk and all the cornstarch in a small bowl. Set it aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and 1 tbsp. of heavy cream until it is well-blended, light and fluffy. Set it aside.
- In a heavy saucepan, pour the remaining milk and cream over the coffee beans. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan, turn off the heat and let the coffee beans infuse for 15-20 minutes.
- Strain the milk through a wire strainer or mesh colander. Return the mixture to the saucepan.
- Add the sugar and corn syrup to the coffee-infused milk. Bring it to a boil and cook it over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
- Pull the saucepan off the heat. Whisk in the milk and cornstarch.
- Return the pan to the heat and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Gradually whisk the hot coffee cream mixture into the cream cheese, beating until the mixture is smooth and well-blended. Whisk in the salt.
- Put the bowl over ice or refrigerate for an hour, stirring occasionally to speed the cooling.
- When the ice cream base is cold, pour it into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer instructions to freeze the ice cream. When it reaches the texture of soft-serve ice cream or thick pudding, spoon it into covered containers. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream before covering the container.
- Freeze for at least four hours.
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