gelato al caffè / coffee ice cream

smooth and creamy

Ogni promessa è debito, we say in Italian (promise is debt). In a recent post, I promised I would talk about how I make gelato al caffè and here I will keep my promise. The gelato al caffè I make was inspired by the Espresso Coffee Ice Cream presented in the book Frozen Desserts by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir. Here is the list of ingredients I use:

• half a cup of coffee beans (Italian or espresso roast — more on this later)
• 1.5 cups non-fat milk
• 1 cup good quality heavy whipping cream, possibly organic
• two whole eggs and one egg yolk (pastured and fresh)
• half a cup of granulated sugar

I prepare the coffee, milk and cream mixture as directed in the recipe referenced. I beat the eggs, egg yolk and sugar in a regular bowl, since I don't use a double-boiler to heat the custard, but a saucepan placed on a small burner at low heat. I don't measure the temperature, and rely on the spoon method and my undivided attention to remove the custard from the heat at the correct time. The cold water bath and thorough chilling are normal practices in ice cream preparation.

If you have an ice cream maker like mine, whose freezing cylinder must be thoroughly frozen before use, you need to make sure the cylinder is cold enough to make a product like what you see in the photo. I keep mine always in the freezer, because I use it often, but that by itself is not sufficient. To give you an example, if I kept my freezer at level 4 (which is the default temperature level), the ice cream would not get to the right consistency. I keep my freezer at a lower temperature (level 5) and I get what you see in the photo. I serve my gelato as it comes out of the machine, without delay, and freeze what is left over. It is a good idea to label the container with the type of gelato or sorbetto (sorbet) it contains and the production date, for reference.

The recipe directs you to start with coffee beans (chicchi di caffè) and rightly so. Beans should be bought freshly roasted, and ground as needed. Think about the set up of an espresso machine in a coffee shop: the coffee grinder (macinacaffè) is operated as needed to provide ground coffee (caffè macinato) to make espresso drinks. Also, good quality beans will give you a good ice cream. My husband used to buy green coffee beans and roast them in small batches. Currently, we buy roasted coffee (caffè tostato) from this store in Oakland. This page has an interesting pictorial guide to the roasting process. You may also be interested in a note about storing roasted coffee.

Back to gelato al caffè, it is one of the most popular flavors (gusti) among the ones I make. Even people who say that they don't usually drink coffee like this gelato. I realize that tea drinkers of the world may feel neglected. Not to worry, I also make green tea ice cream, but you'll have to exercise some patience, since this is a story for another day.

In the meantime, for the department of unrelated photos, I am offering you a little rainbow (arcobaleno).

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

gelato al caffè

or launch the gelato al caffè  audio file [mp3].

Related articles

semifreddo alla fragola / strawberry parfait

Comments

[acecard]

I have never tried gelato al caffè.I think its easy and quick to make this recipe..Now I will definitely try for its taste.Now I will wait for your green tea ice cream as its something new and different.

[bellini valli]

I am praising myself for finally having a small freezer so that my ice cream maker liner will always be ready..I actually have room for it now.

[Foodycat]

Heaven. Absolute heaven. I can never decide whether strawberry or coffee is my favourite flavour of icecream, but obviously after this I am leaning heavily towards coffee!

[lenny]

E' uno dei mie preferiti :))

[ruhama]

Oooo, I haven't made coffee ice cream in a while, and this sounds even better than ice cream!

And I look forward to the green tea recipe~I made green tea ice cream once, but it was waaaaay too strong.

[Paz]

Love the rainbow. Would love to taste your gelato. ;-)

Paz

[Simona Carini]

With good quality ingredients, the ice cream will be good: that is my simple rule, Acecard.

Hi Valli, glad to hear you are getting ready to make some ice cream. I am looking forward to reading about your experience with it.

Hi Foodycat. The beauty of coffee ice cream is that is independent of the season. In the summer, I also make strawberry ice cream. We'll talk more about this when strawberry season starts.

Ciao Lenny. Anche per me, fin da quando ero piccola.

Ciao Ruhama. What happened? Did you use too much green tea. I also had a rocky first experience.

Glad you like the photo, Paz. I make this flavor fairly often, so come by any time to have some :)

[Marie]

Simona, My very favorite flavor of ice cream is always coffee, sounds wonderful! I must admit I don't own an ice cream maker, if I did I'm afraid I'd be sneeking in the freezer late at night with spoon in hand!

[marcellina]

Coffee gelato! You really can't beat it! And you photos make me want to make it now!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Marie. I think coffee is a fascinating ice cream flavor, intense and elegant. I understand your feelings about having an ice cream maker.

Ciao Marcellina. I hope you get to make it one day: it's a real treat.

[Elena]

Ciao :)

Mi chiamo Elena e sul mio blog di cucina sto raccogliendo delle ricette, insieme agli altri food blogger, per creare una raccolta. :)

Si tratta di ricette "a colori" che verrebbero poi raccolte (citando ovviamente le fonti) in un ebook scaricabile da tutti gli amanti della buona cucina.

Se ti può interessare, questo è il link dove ci sono tutti i dettagli. :)

http://www.gnamgnam.it/index.php/2010/03/02/la-cucina-a-colori-la-prima-raccolta-di-ricette.htm

Spero di averti incuriosita. :P

Ti auguro buona giornata,

elena.

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

My favorite flavor for an afternoon pick me up on the piazza.
This is a ♥friday's favorite♥

[Simona Carini]

Hi Sandi. It's certainly a great afternoon option. And I like the name "friday's favorite".