Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Coffee Ice Cream

Dear Devon,

Before you put away your ice cream maker for the season, you have to try my amazing recipe for chocolate hazelnut coffee ice cream. I don’t have a fancy name for my flavor like Ben and Jerry’s, so if you think of a better one, let me know. Besides coffee, I don’t go for the rich brown flavors like dulce de leche and rum raisin. Strawberry, peach, and pear are more my style. But every so often I get that craving for something a bit more decadent. Coffee ice cream always hits the spot, especially when laced with chunks of chocolate and crushed, toasted hazelnuts. Each spoonful is delectable. Smooth, coffee infused ice cream balanced against bitter morsels of dark chocolate and smoky, crunchy hazelnuts. I promise you, it’s a recipe you’ll want to repeat.

We have discussed methods for making ice cream several times. While you lean towards more unusual recipes like cornstarch gelato or almond milk bases, I prefer a more traditional custard base for my ice cream. There are a multitude of ice cream recipes, all vaguely similar. In my experience, I have found the most success with a one to one ratio of cream to whole milk mixed with five egg yolks. Cream based ice creams are overwhelmingly creamy, almost like eating a chilled, viscous flavored butter. And 100% whole milk ice cream lacks the luxurious decadence inherent to any good ice cream. Egg yolks impart body and richness, more like frozen custard than just frozen milk. I can’t stress enough the importance of whole milk and cream in ice cream. On this, you and I agree. It’s ice cream after all: If you want a healthy dessert, eat a pear instead.

Barcelona’s ice cream and gelato is addictive. The flavors are intense, pungent, and refreshing. The rainbow of fruit flavors is spectacular. Subtly flavored fruits like melon, fig, and peach are intensified. Fig ice cream goes beyond suggesting the taste of fig but actually embodies a more advanced stage of a fig’s growing process, from tiny seed to fruit to ice cream! I tried an incredible plum ice cream the other day and promise to keep you updated on any other unusual flavors. Still, I’m dying for my ice cream maker. Unfortunately, our tiny excuse for a freezer can’t hold a frozen pizza, let alone an ice cream workbowl. Así es la vida! I’ll have to content myself with the multitude of impressive ice cream shops.



Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Coffee Ice Cream
3 cups half and half (or 1 1/2 cups whole milk + 1 1/2 cups cream)
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp decaf coffee beans
1/4 cup coffee (decaf)
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, skins removed and chopped
1-12 oz chocolate bar with hazelnuts (for extra nutty flavor)

In a large pot, bring half and half to a light boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat. Pour in decaf coffee and whole coffee beans. Cover with a lid and let coffee steep for 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes would probably be enough, but for a richer coffee flavor allow the beans to steep longer. After 30 minutes, the milk-cream mixture will turn a soft brown color. Remove and discard the beans.

Beat egg yolks with sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale yellow. Gradually add hot milk mixture to the egg yolks one ladleful at a time. Add about one third of the cream mixture, whisking the entire time. The egg yolks need to be slowly introduced to the hot cream, otherwise the eggs will cook and scramble. It's really unpleasant when this happens, and it ruins the texture of the finished ice cream. Combine the tempered egg yolk mixture into the remaining hot cream. Heat slowly over a medium low flame, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened. When the first bubbles begin to burst along the edges, test the custard for doneness. The custard is ready when a line drawn with your finger on the back of the spoon holds it shape. Transfer the pot into an awaiting ice bath to instantly stop the cooking. Pour the cooled mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface of the custard. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, before continuing.


Roughly chop toasted hazelnuts and chocolate bar. Set aside. Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker. Freeze according to your manufacturer's instructions. It should take about 25 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, add the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate. Continue to freeze. Using a rubber spatula, carefully scrape down the sides of the workbowl as the machine spins. This is a bit tricky, but it prevents the ice cream from freezing to the workbowl, giving you more delicious ice cream to enjoy. Remove finished ice cream to a container. Freeze for 30 minutes to an hour more before serving. I use a glass loaf pan with a lid. When storing ice cream, it is always preferable to store it in a container that allows for greater surface area exposure. It is supposed to affect the flavor of the ice cream. After reading this, I noticed that all ice cream shops store their product in long, narrow containers, so I started doing it too. It allows you to make perfect, rounded scoops for nicer presentation.

Cantaloupe Sorbet

Dear Devon,

With temperatures soaring into the mid-90's, I can't bring myself to turn on the stove, the oven, or even the lamps. Any appliance that emits heat must be eliminated. To alleviate some of my discomfort, I decided to make sorbet. I always keep an ice cream work bowl in the freezer for an impromptu frozen dessert on a scorching summer day. If I feel the need to whip up some refreshing, utterly delicious ice cream or sorbet, I don't have to wait a full 24 hours for the work bowl to freeze (yes, it really takes that long). Two summers ago, when I first got the machine, I was too excited to wait it out, and the ice cream didn't congeal. Total disaster! The gaping mouth of the trash can was the only mouth that was cool that night. While this first attempt- at mango ice cream, I admit- ended up being inedible, the frozen treats that followed filled my summer and my freezer.

Although melon appeared regularly on the summer table, I was largely indifferent to melons as a child. Watermelon is the only exception. I can eat a whole watermelon in one sitting: I just can't carry one five blocks. My distaste for honeydews and cantaloupes (I don't like those weird hybrid ones) has diminished. I still don't love them, but melons are appreciated now, instead of just being tolerated.

The cooling effects of the melon makes it an ideal fruit for summer. Nothing beats biting into a juicy, cold slice of melon on a hot, humid day. Melon sorbet seemed an obvious second step. At first, I was a bit skeptical about cantaloupe sorbet. My recipe drawn from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop asks for pureed cantaloupe and sugar. Cantaloupe is a delicate and soft flavor. Would cantaloupe on its own be enough? I also worried that the water content would be too great and I would end up with an icy sorbet with only a hint of cantaloupe flavor. I was completely wrong. Cantaloupe is perfect for sorbet. It is light, flavorful, and amazingly refreshing. The flowery taste of cantaloupe dominates the sorbet, releasing pleasant notes of citrus and mild honey. The texture is smooth and actually quite similar to the soft juiciness of a melon.

I pureed the melon in a food processor. A blender works better, but my kitchen doesn't have enough cabinet space for one. As a result, I strained the cantaloupe puree to get a smoother consistency. Store the finished sorbet in a glass loaf pan with a lid. It allows for easy scooping. Drag the ice cream scoop along the length of the pan to make those perfect ice cream shop scoops.

I am now fortified for a sticky, hot July.

Cantaloupe Sorbet
from Lebovitz, David The Perfect Scoop, p. 111.

1 cantaloupe
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 lime juiced

Carefully remove the skin from the cantaloupe, cutting where the green skin just meets the light orange fruit. Halve the cantaloupe and remove and discard the seeds. Dice into large 1 inch chunks. Place fruit into the bowl of a food processor along with sugar and lime juice. I suggest tasting the fruit before adding the sugar. If the fruit is already very sweet, adjust the amount of sugar. Puree until smooth. Using a flexible spatula and a sieve, push 2/3 of the mixture through a strainer. Whisk the remaining puree into the strained mixture. Cool in the fridge for 2 hours. Pour mixture into prepared ice cream maker for 35-40 minutes. At first, it looks like nothing is happening, but in the 20th minute or so, the sorbet will begin to thicken and come together. When the sorbet is thick, remove from the machine and place into a loaf pan. Cool in the freezer for an additional hour before serving. This will help the texture and continue to develop the flavors. I often find that homemade ice cream or sorbet tastes better the next day.