Coffee Stout Ice Cream

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t any old holiday in New Orleans.  It is another day for parades and celebration!  Living in an area of the city called the Irish Channel, I am in the middle of the St. Patty’s Day action.  Every year I attend the parade with its celebratory floats, kissing Irishmen, and cabbage.  Yes, cabbage.  You need to keep your eyes open or you will get pelted in the head with cabbage!  The tradition is to take home the cabbage and cook something with it.

This week’s recipe is not related to cabbage but it is appropriate for St. Patty’s Day.  Coffee Stout Ice Cream incorporates your favorite Irish Stout with chocolate and smoky notes of coffee.  Now I have to admit that I didn’t have any Irish Stout on hand, so I used Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout which worked really well in this ice cream because of its chocolately notes and strong hoppy finish.  Cheers and enjoy!

Coffee Stout Ice Cream
Recipe from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home (name changed because I did not use Kona coffee)
Makes 1 quart

A strong stout is recommended for use in this ice cream, such as an imperial stout.  Serve ice cream aside your favorite stout or make a beer float!

2 cups whole milk
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ oz. cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup cane sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup
2 Tablespoons dark-roast coffee beans, coarsely ground
1/2 cup dark stout

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk together cream cheese and salt.  Set a fine mesh sieve over the bowl and set aside.

Combine the remaining milk with heavy cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan.  Bring milk mixture to a boil.  Cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, 4 minutes. Remove from heat, add coffee grinds, and steep for 5 minutes. Place a sieve lined with cheesecloth over a medium bowl.  Strain milk mixture through sieve, squeezing cheesecloth to extract all liquid and maximum flavor.

Return milk mixture to saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture through the sieve into the cream cheese. Whisk until smooth. Add stout and mix well.  Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cool.

Chill the mixture thoroughly (at least 4 hours or overnight). Once chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Spoon ice cream into a freezer safe container. Place plastic or parchment over ice cream (to prevent ice crystals) and freeze overnight.  Serve with your favorite stout or make a beer float!