Coffee, Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
1-3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. instant nonfat dry milk powder
1 Tbsp. instant coffee (dry)
Few grains of salt
4 egg yolks, from eggs graded �large�
2 tsp. vanilla
8 Double Stuf Oreos � or other chocolate sandwich cookies, each
chopped into sixteenths
Optional (but good): 2 Tbsp. coffee liqueur
Set a fine strainer on top of a heatproof pitcher of about 4-cup
capacity; place near stovetop. Combine heavy cream and milk in
microwaveable container (I use a liquid measuring cup) of at least
three-cup capacity.
Off the heat, attach a candy thermometer to a 2 quart,
heavy-bottomed, nonaluminum saucepan. In this pan, combine both
sugars, nonfat dry milk powder, instant coffee, and salt. Pour about
1/4 cup (no need to measure) of the cream-milk mixture into the dry
ingredients and stir with a large spoon until smooth. Set aside.
Place egg yolks in small bowl. Add about 2 Tbsp. (again, no need to
measure) of cream-milk mixture. Beat with fork until well-combined.
Add egg yolk mixture to mixture in pan; with spoon, stir until
smooth.
Heat remaining cream-milk mixture in microwave at high power until
very hot (alternatively, mixture can be heated in small saucepan
over low heat; stir frequently). While stirring the egg yolk mixture
rapidly and constantly, very gradually add hot cream mixture, a
little at a time, until it is all incorporated. Scrape pan bottom
and sides with rubber spatula.
Place 2 quart pot over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until it
reaches a temperature of 175 to 176 degrees F. Immediately remove
from heat and pour in a thin stream into the fine strainer. Once
strained, add the vanilla to this coffee �custard� and stir it in.
Cool briefly, then chill for at least 6 hours (overnight is fine,
too; in fact, you can make this custard a day or three in advance).
When cold, cover top of pitcher with a layer of paper towel; trim
paper towel layer until it�s only about 1/2 inch larger in
circumference than top of pitcher.
Place trimmed paper towel layer over top of pitcher once more; cover
pitcher tightly with plastic wrap (this will keep any condensation
that forms from dripping back into the custard).
An hour or two before churning, chop the cookies (or toffee bars),
place in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and chill in
fridge or freezer. Chill a freezer container with a
slightly-larger-than-one-quart capacity.
When ready to churn, stir the coffee custard. Follow manufacturer�s
instructions for churning. When coffee custard is about
three-quarters frozen, add optional liqueur, one tablespoon at a
time, allowing first addition to be mixed into the custard before
the second is added. Continue churning until done.
Work quickly now. Stir cold cookie chunks into frozen coffee
custard, mixing until they�re evenly distributed. Pack into chilled
freezer carton, cover, and replace in freezer. If you eat this
within the first few hours after it�s churned, it will be more like
a soft ice cream, and the cookie chunks should retain at least a
little bit of crispness. Later on, the ice cream will be a bit
firmer (although it never becomes too hard if you use the coffee
liqueur), and the cookie chunks are no longer crisp, but I�ve never
had anyone complain about that! Serve within three days of churning. |