Coffee and Donuts Ice Cream

I did it.  I really did it this time.  This ice cream..... ugh.  There are no words.  Which makes blogging tough.

Here's the deal.  I used Jeni's ice cream recipe base.  Holy Moses, it's perfect.  I tried Jeni's ice cream for the first time a few weeks ago (at a Taco Festival of all places) and it was heavenly.  SO flavorful.  I got the Black Coffee flavor and I just died right on the spot.  It was perfect.  It definitely inspired me to make this ice cream but the coffee flavor is more subtle.  Cuz I had to leave room for the delicious donuts too!  

Since getting my ice cream maker I've realized that anything goes with ice cream.  Just let your dreams run wild.  And then make an ice cream out of it.  I have SO MANY ice cream ideas now.  I'm not gonna give you any clues because that's proprietary information!  I wanna be the first on the scene with chocolate...wait a minute!  I almost shared my secrets!  You're so sneaky.  

I went the lazy route here (if you can consider making homemade ice cream lazy) by using store-bought donuts.  I sometimes have a tendency to get too ambitious with some recipes and those are usually the ones that don't make it to the blog.  Because they are complete and total failures.  Store-bought donuts helped me reign in potential over-ambitious disaster.  

As pictured, I used Old Fashioned donuts and Chocolate donuts.  The chocolate provides the slightest crunch once frozen and the Old Fashioned donuts lightly flavor every bite with nutmeg.  Of course, you could use any donuts you like.  Can you imagine a cinnamon sugar donut here?!  Oh goodness, it would be divine.  Also, this ice cream makes me use words like divine now.  Sorry about that.  

Here's the recipe!

Coffee and Donuts Ice Cream 

makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 3 tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 heaping tablespoons instant coffee 
4 mini donuts (I used Old Fashioned and Chocolate Glazed), chopped or crumbled into bite size chunks

Directions
1.  Fill large bowl with ice and cold water, set aside.  In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth, set aside.  In a small bowl, combine corn starch and 2 tablespoons of the milk, whisking until smooth and well combined.  Set aside.  
2.  In a medium saucepan, combine remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup.  Heat over medium-high heat until sugar is fully dissolved, cooking about 4 minutes.  Add in instant coffee and stir to dissolve.  Off the heat, add the cornstarch mixture and stir to fully incorporate.  Return to heat, add vanilla and cook for about one minute until mixture is thickened.
3.  Gradually and carefully whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth and lumps are gone.  Whisk in salt.  Transfer mixture to large plastic freezer bag, seal, and immerse in ice bath.  Allow to sit until completely cooled, about 20 mins.  
4.  Strain the ice cream base into the ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.  When complete, begin layering with donuts.  I made 4 layers, beginning and ending with the ice cream (but you can adjust based on the dimensions of your container).  Allow to freeze until set, at least 4 hours.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food and Wine