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Monday, September 27, 2010

Coffee Ice Cream

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A coffee lover, I am not. I have spent countless hours in coffee shops, studying, reading, chatting with friends, but not ordering cups of coffee. I love the smell and yet every time I reach over for a sip of Ryan's, you'll find me scrunching my face in disgust.

More recently, I've discovered I can tolerate coffee if it includes one of two things: loads of sugar, or alcohol. Okay, confession: I might even like coffee prepared this way (preferably with the alcohol).

And then there's coffee ice cream. I put coffee ice cream in a whole different "coffee" ballpark. I love the stuff. So it was no surprise that this became my next ice cream to make in my ice cream maker, after the peanut butter and the basil.

This ice cream is more like an icy coffee drink than creamy smooth ice cream, largely due to the ingredients. Still, it's simple ingredients that are quick to throw together when you need that coffee dessert fix. I loved the texture and the flavor of this and next time I plan to figure out how to sneak some Bailey's in there too!

One Year Ago: Praline Party Mix and Super Easy Spinach Dip



Coffee Ice Cream
recipe from Fake Ginger
Ingredients:
-2 cups half and half
-2/3 cup sugar
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 cups strong coffee

Directions:
1. Heat half and half and sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and coffee. Chill mixture in refrigerator or freezer for at least one hour.
3. Freeze mixture according to your ice cream maker's directions. Place finished ice cream in an air tight container and freeze for an additional 2-3 hours before serving.

And, as promised, a list of the (many!) ice creams Ryan and I tried while on vacation...I promise we don't normal make crazy amounts of ice cream a normal occurrence, but we felt the need to live it up on vacation, especially with so many great places in Maine and Boston tempting us with their creative flavors! We tried to get something new at each place and often opted for two scoops instead of one just so that we could taste that many more flavors. Everything in moderation, right? We'll eat some extra kale chips or okra fries to make up for it ;)

The Ice Cream List:
-Maine Explosion (I forget if this is the right title, but it was vanilla ice cream with peanuts, chocolate swirl, and cookie dough)
-Apple Crisp
-Maine Bear (raspberry ice cream with chocolate chunks)
-Coffee Oreo
-Almond Butter Crunch
-Pumpkin Pie
-Kowlua
-Oatmeal Cookie
-Maple Butter Walnut
-Butter Pecan
-Pineapple Basil
-Bananas Foster
-B3 (Brown Sugar, Brown Butter, and Brownies)
-Hazelnut
-Ginger Molasses
-Carrot Cake
-Black Cherry
-Coconut Almond Chip

Ice Creams from:
-Fox's Lobster House (York Beach, ME)
-Village Ice Cream (Kennebunkport, ME)
-Beal's Ice Cream (Portland, ME)
-JP Licks (Boston, MA)
-Toscanini's (Cambridge, MA)
-Christina's (Cambridge, MA)

Wow, what a list! It's hard to pick a favorite among those, but Ryan was very insistent that I attempt to recreate the maple butter walnut. I'd also like to try to make the carrot cake. We were impressed by the creativity of so many ice cream shops in their flavors. In St. Louis when we go out for ice cream it's usually frozen custard so we aren't up to date on all of the crazy flavors available. Too fun!

Scroll down for proof that we really did eat that much ice cream...