Recipe: sous vide light roast coffee ice cream
Whenever I have light roast beans that are a bit too acidic, or I have too many of them and they're getting old, I pull a LOT of shots, and freeze the espresso. Then… I later make homemade espresso ice cream with all those leftover shots.
Even if you're not a fan of light roasts, you should try ice cream made with it. The floral, fruity, acid and often perfumey aspects make far better ice cream than medium-to-dark roasts, where the flavors don't shine. And this style of ice cream is not something I've ever seen sold.
The cream and sugar hide overly acidic, badly pulled light roast shots. When Paul and I are trying to dial in a newly arrived bean, we save all the “sink shots” in a plastic water bottle. Nothing wasted!
To make the ice cream base, I need a blender, an immersion cooker (sous vide machine) and an inexpensive ice cream machine like this $99 Cuisinart model: https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-30BC-Indulgence-2-Quart-Automatic/dp/B0006ONQOC/
Having a removable sleeve is much easier than more expensive models that provide chilling, because I can put the ice cream & sleeve directly in the freezer when the ice cream is ready.
Here's my recipe:
- lots of espresso (at least 20 shots, more is better)
- 20% cream (if using 30% cream, dilute with milk to 20%)
- 3 to 6 eggs (6 eggs if you are making two full blender's worth). Often, inexpensive “industrial eggs” are better because they have almost no flavor, and an eggy flavor is not always appreciated with coffee. I use the cheapest “Trader Joe's” eggs to good effect.
- White sugar
- Vanilla (optional)
- In Hong Kong, I haven't found a source for Vanilla in large quantities, so I'm using Monin's vanilla syrup, which effectively provides the sugar and vanilla (like) flavor.
To make it:
- use a blender to mix 2/3rds of the espresso, cream, milk, some sugar. 3 eggs per totally-full blender (I usually make a double batch).
- put in a sous vide bag, cook at 80ºC (176ºF) for 2 to 3 hours.
- cut open the bag bag, put it back in the blender. Blend and you'll have a thick custard. Add sugar, milk, more coffee, to taste. It should be stronger tasting than you want the final mix to be, because freezing will dull the flavor.
- After blending, put it back into a sous vide bag, seal, and put it in the fridge. It can sit there for a few days.
- Make the ice cream an hour before you want to eat it. It's so much better freshly churned. On my Cuisinart, a cold custard takes about 30 minutes to fully set, and then we serve it directly from the machine. If you serve the ice cream hard from the freezer, let it sit out enough time (often 30 minutes!) until it is starting to soften. Too-cold ice cream has a hard texture, and the flavor is muted.
- I often have a bag or two of this coffee-custard-base in my freezer, hard. I thaw it a few hours on the countertop, before I want to make it into ice cream. Once it's soft, I just need to cut the bag, pour the mix into the ice cream machine, and serve 30 minutes later. Easy.
Never waste espresso! Sugar and cream hide the flaws of the worst shots!
-john
Updated 2021/08/18