Shades, Tones, and Variations: Kona Stout Ice Cream

While browsing Strand Book Store one evening, I stumbled upon a book that I knew I needed. Jenni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home opens to page upon page of ice cream recipes I would never have imagined. The combinations of flavors are unusual in many cases, but the typical, well-known, comfortable flavor combinations are also represented.

When I opened this Christmas gift, I knew it was time to pull the frozen ice cream canister core out of the freezer, finally! About a year ago I put it in the freezer thinking I would make ice cream sometime in the next week or two ... it was definitely sufficiently frozen and ready to chill a batch of ice cream.

After leafing through the book, Tim and I made a unanimous decision to make the kona stout ice cream. Let me just say, Beer + Coffee + Ice Cream = soooooo good!

So, here is our first foray into ice cream making. While it wasn't the best batch of ice cream ever, we made a few mistakes, it was still pretty amazing! We now know it is important to chill the ice cream base as instructed, no short-cuts allowed.

Kona Stout Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 T cornstarch
3 T cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 T light corn syrup
2 T dark-roast coffee beans, coarsely ground
1/2 cup very dark stout beer

Prep
Mix about 2 T of milk and cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry
Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth
Fill a large bowl with ice and water

Cook

Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the coffee, and let steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve (if you have it, line the sieve with a layer of cheesecloth)

Return the ice cream mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened - about 1 minute.

Remove from heat.

Chill

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.

Add the stout and blend well.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freeze bag and submerge the sealed bag in an ice bath.

Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Freeze

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.