Coffee Oreo Ice Cream
One of the fun things about being pregnant is that ones culinary creativity increases exponentially. Usually involving ice cream or cookies or both. After the first three months of eating only cheese toast to calm the queasiness, ice cream is well deserved. Anyway, I got to thinking (drooling over) this coffee Oreo ice cream at an ice cream parlor nearby, but it went out of business so I was forced to make my own this weekend. Somehow coffee and oreos are an even better combination than milk and Oreos. While my all-time favorite coffee ice cream is Haagen-Dazs, home made comes in at a close second. The trick is to use good quality coffee. Which I did not do. I used the instant kind, which made for a very quick and easy ice cream base, but a just OK coffee flavor.
Next time I will try this recipe where the whole beans infuse the ice cream base with coffee flavor. Use it if you have time and let me know what you think. Stir in the cookies at the end the same way I have it written here.
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules (go decaf if you want to sleep at night)
- 6 egg yolks
- 10 Oreos or other chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped
Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and coffee in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.
Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and stir in cookie pieces. Pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After the ice cream is made, transfer to an airtight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve.