Sunday, August 7, 2011

Mocha Ice Cream

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 9 comments » / dessert, ice cream, Nashville

Confession time!  If I want coffee from a coffeeshop, I go out of my way to make sure I get it from a local shop.  Nashville has SO many great, authentic, unique shops.  I have a different reason I love each and every one of these I could tell you, but I don’t want this post to get too long and rambling.  I will at least name my favorites: Crema, Dose, Drinkhaus, Bongo Java (especially Fido), Frothy Monkey, & Dunn Bros.  Starbucks doesn’t enter my mind as an option very often (unless they are having some kind of special like Frappuccino Happy Hour!).  I just find the coffee at all the aforementioned places to be much better.  However….(and this is where the confession comes in) ever since I attended Blog Her Food ’11 back in May, I’ve been incredibly, embarrassingly addicted to Starbucks Iced VIA.  Like really, really, really addicted.  As in, I recently found a mega-deal and purchased enough to have 50 little packets of instant goodness ready for my enjoyment.

It was at the closing party that I stopped at the Starbucks table and chatted with the lovely ladies representing Starbucks.  They had swag bags to give out with a few different VIAs, including Italian Roast, French Roast, Decaf, and the aforementioned Iced VIAs.  They encouraged me to take some of the extra samples of the (non-iced) VIA packets.  Me, being lover-of-all-things-free, happily dug my hand into the bowl for a fisty stash.  Only later at home, when I was counting my swag did I begin to wonder what in the heck I was gonna do with all this Starbucks VIA, especially the decaf!  Finally, it came to me… Make ice cream!

This ice cream was definitely rich!  Decadent, and deep with flavor.  I brought some to my parents to share with them, and my little brother told me when him & his friends were eating it, they ate vanilla alongside it because it was so rich!  If you like coffee, and you like chocolate, this will definitely be the flavor for you.  I’m so glad I had the decaf VIAs to use to make this.  That way, I could enjoy this ice cream at night, and not worry about it keeping me awake all night!  Along with the Starbucks swag I used to make this, I also used the Scharffen Berger chocolate we got as swag at the conference too.  They were nice enough to have LOTS of their awesome product to share.  I think the Scharffen Berger really contributed to the richness in this ice cream.

If you’re interested in attending a food blog conference, whether it be for the swag, to meet other bloggers, or to pick up tips on how to be a better blogger, there’s one coming to Nashville!  Food Blog Forum is coming Saturday, October 8th (with a kick-off event the Friday before).  I’m really excited, as I’ll be going!  It’s not too late to get your ticket and join in on the fun!  After all, besides all the Nashville bloggers in attendance, there’s going to be some pretty awesome out of towners too!  😉

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Mocha Ice Cream

Yield: 5 cups

Ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package semisweet chocolate squares, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar, divided
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
4 egg yolks

Directions:

Microwave chocolate in a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring twice; stir in brewed coffee. Set chocolate mixture aside.

Bring whipping cream, half-and-half, 1/2 cup sugar, and coffee granules to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar and coffee dissolve.

Beat yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at high speed with an electric mixer until thick and pale. With mixer at low speed, gradually pour hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; return to saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats a spoon. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate mixture. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Pour chilled mixture into freezer container of a 5-quart hand-turned or electric freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Pack freezer with additional ice and rock salt, and let stand 1 hour. Serve ice cream with cookies, if desired.

from MyRecipes (June 1997 Southern Living) as seen on Lauren's Kitchen