Coffee Ice-cream

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •Mortar and pestle or rolling pin
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Whisk and flexible spatula
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large bowl for an ice bath
• •1-quart or larger ice-cream machine
• •Shallow lidded freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Crush and infuse

   Crush the coffee beans at the last possible moment, aiming for rough fragments rather than powder. Bring the full 2⅓ cups (560 ml / 575 g) milk just to the boil in a heavy saucepan, remove it from the heat, and immediately stir in the coffee. Cover and infuse for exactly twenty minutes. Set a timer. A shorter infusion tastes timid; a longer one pulls bitterness from the roast and buries the perfume.

   For the book's brewed alternative, grind the same 1 ounce (28 g) coffee and infuse it strongly in the ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (140 ml / 140 g) just-boiled water for four minutes. Filter without pressing, then stir the infusion into 1¾ cups (420 ml / 433 g) boiled milk. Water replaces part of the milk rather than enlarging the recipe, preserving the original one-to-three proportion.
2. 2

   Strain the milk

   Set a fine sieve over a heatproof bowl and strain the infused milk as soon as the twenty minutes are up. Let it drain naturally and discard the beans without pressing them, since pressure extracts the bitter liquid trapped in the grounds. Return the milk to the rinsed saucepan and warm it until small bubbles gather at the edge.

3. 3

   Temper the yolks

   Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a bowl until smooth and slightly lightened. Don't leave sugar sitting unmixed on the yolks, because it draws out their moisture and forms stubborn little grains. Pour in one-third of the hot coffee milk in a thin stream while whisking, then whisk in the remainder. This gradual tempering raises the yolks' temperature without scrambling them.

4. 4

   Cook the crème anglaise

   Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a flexible spatula and sweeping the corners of the pan. Stop when the crème anglaise reaches 79 to 82°C (174 to 180°F) and turns nappant, coating the back of a spoon so a finger drawn through it leaves a clean path. Never let it boil. If you see the first fine grains of cooked yolk, pull the pan from the heat at once, blend for fifteen seconds, and strain into a cold bowl. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Chill it quickly

   Set the bowl of custard into a larger bowl of ice water and stir until completely cool. Press reusable wrap or parchment directly against the surface, then refrigerate for at least three hours, until thoroughly cold. Rapid cooling stops the cooking and preserves the coffee's high fragrance; the cold rest also lets the custard settle into a smooth emulsion.

6. 6

   Churn the glace

   Pour the cold base into the prepared ice-cream machine and churn according to its instructions, usually twenty to thirty minutes, until it holds soft folds and looks like thick whipped custard. Churning is not brigade scaffolding to be discarded; it keeps the ice crystals small and gives the glace its fine body. If the base remains liquid after thirty minutes, the bowl was not cold enough. Refrigerate the base, freeze the clean bowl until solid, and churn again.

7. 7

   Firm and serve

   Transfer the glace to a shallow chilled container, smooth the surface, and cover it closely. Freeze for about three hours, until firm enough to scoop but not frozen into a block. Let it stand at room temperature for five to ten minutes before serving, then draw the scoop through slowly to make generous rounds. The first taste should be cold, creamy, and unmistakably coffee. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose fragrant beans from a roaster with brisk turnover, preferably a balanced medium or medium-dark roast. Beans lacquered with oil tend to bring smoke and bitterness where the glace needs aroma. Crush them only when the milk is ready.
• •The crushed-bean infusion is the finer method because it preserves the full measure of milk. The brewed method is entirely proper and comes from the source itself, but its 140 ml of water must replace 140 ml of milk or the custard becomes too loose.
• •Don't add cream. The source builds the flavoring around boiled milk, while the yolks supply richness and emulsification. Cream would soften the coffee's clarity and change the proportion this entry sets down.
• •Store the glace with parchment pressed against its surface and the lid tightly closed. It is at its best within one week, before freezer odors and slow ice-crystal growth dull the coffee perfume.
• •For a dinner party, serve modest scoops after a rich meal, with langues de chat or plain butter biscuits if you want something crisp. The coffee needs no sauce and no decorative beans.

Advance Preparation

• •Freeze the machine bowl for at least 24 hours, or for the full time specified by its maker. It should feel solid with no liquid shifting inside.
• •The crème anglaise can be infused, cooked, and refrigerated up to 24 hours before churning. Keep its surface covered closely so it doesn't collect refrigerator aromas.
• •Churn and firm the glace earlier on the day of serving or up to three days ahead. Move it to the refrigerator for ten minutes if a very cold freezer has made it difficult to scoop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)