Coffee Health Bar

As I was proofreading this post, I realized that I had titled it Coffee HeaLth Bar Ice Cream. I decided to leave it, mainly because it made me chuckle and secondly because if you are in deep enough denial it IS healthy. 

Mmmm. Creamy creamy ice cream. Health food. Eggs and sugar and cream- what could possibly be bad about that? 

I crave Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar ice cream. Unfortunately (fortunately for my waistline), it's pretty pricey. I realized that I could probably make a decent version, and guess what? I did! It's crazy when you realize that you CAN make pretty much anything if you are willing to invest a little time. 


Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream


Cook time: 10 minutes. Makes 1 quart.


Ingredients


2 c. heavy cream
2 c. milk (we used 1% and it was fine)
1/2 c. sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp. instant coffee granules (we used Taster's Choice decaf)
1/4 c. whole coffee beans (again, we used decaf)
1 tsp. salt


How To


Add milk and cream to a heavy bottomed sauce pan (note: use a good heavy pan to avoid scorching your milk) and gently begin to heat it over low heat. 

Add instant coffee and coffee beans and mix well. 

Bring up to gentle boil (a few bubbles, but not boiling) and immediately remove it from the heat. Stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan to ensure to milk is burning. 

*Note: do NOT walk away from your milk, or it will boil over in one second and you will have to do this and it will make you sad: 

Whisk your eggs together in a small bowl and add (verrrrry slowly) a ladle full of the hot milk-cream mixture. This is called tempering the eggs and it helps you avoid scrambling them! 

Add the eggs back into the saucepan (again slowly is key) and stir well. Return to medium-low heat and cook it for about 5 minutes. If you have an instant thermometer, you're looking for about 170 degrees f. I stick a spoon into the mixture and see if it is evenly coated. 

Now, pour the ice cream mixture into a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (press it down onto the surface to ensure that it doesn't form a skin). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

While it's chilling, crunch up your Heath bars (we used 3 bars). 

Now all that is left is to freeze the mix according to your ice cream maker's instructions! I added the Heath bars when it was finished, because it ends up being very soft. 

Transfer into containers and freeze to harden. Mmmm. Let's just say that this did not last long in our freezer. 


What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Have you tried to make it at home?