The simple, straightforward, unadulterated truth is this: coffee is the nectar of the Gods. I love coffee. I roast my own beans. I leave little to chance when it comes to coffee or latte. This must make me some kind of high priest…or wingnut. Yeah, wingnut works.
So when I decided to make gelato one day it came as no surprise Latte Gelato was the choice. The recipe is based on Pamela Sheldon Johns’ from her book Gelato. In this version I used heavy cream instead of milk and upped the quantity by 1/2 cup. Lightly whipped cream is folded into the mixture just before processing in the ice cream machine. So in effect it is a little like semi-freddo in texture as well.
As a side note I used my KitchenAid stand mixer for the entire process. The yolks and sugar were whipped with the whisk attachment on high speed to ribbon consistency and the whisk stayed on when adding the heated cream, at a much lower speed. The only step not done with the KitchenAid was folding in the whipped cream. All in all there was a lot less clean up.
Latte Gelato
– 4 tablespoons ground espresso blend (fine grind)
– 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
– 5 each egg yolk
– 2/3 cup sugar
– 1 cup heavy cream
In a medium sauce pan bring the 2 1/2 cups heavy cream to a simmer, add ground espresso, whisk to mix and keep simmering covered for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to mix grounds. Remove from heat and let steep for 1/2 hour to extract maximum flavor from espresso.
Strain heavy cream through a chinoise or fine mesh strainer. Pour back into a clean sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
Beat egg yolks and sugar to ribbon stage. Slowly add the heated cream to the egg mixture stirring constantly taking care not to scramble the eggs by over cooking them. Cook over medium heat for six to eight minutes or until the mix coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and cool in an ice bath or in the refrigerator over night.
Whip the remaining one cup of heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into the cold custard incorporating thoroughly. Add to the ice cream machine and mix for about 25 minutes or until the mix is like soft ice cream. Pack it into a plastic tub, cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for a couple of hours to solidify.