I love good coffee ice cream. I really, really love it. And because I have this non-stop issue of thinking that “more is more”, I though, what else could I add to it to make it even better?

My answer was chocolate covered espresso beans. Actually they were covered in dark, milk and white chocolate., and mixed into the ice cream. The ice cream is creamy and not too sweet, with little bites of crispy espresso beans, and hints of chocolate. Delicious!

Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 cup milk
1 cup espresso or very strong coffee
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste (or extract)
1 pinch kosher salt
6 large egg yolks
8 0z chocolate covered espresso beans (the ones that I found had assorted chocolate coatings)

In a sauce pan, combine the cream, milk, coffee, sugar and salt until it is steaming hot and the sugar has melted into the cream mixture.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks until fluffy in a large bowl.

While whisking, pour in a little bit of the hot cream at a time, tempering the eggs.

When it’s well combined return it to the sauce pan.

Heat the custard over medium heat while stirring. When the custard coats the back of a spoon, remove it from the heat.

Pour the hot custard through a fine sieve and into a bowl. Refrigerate at least two hours, and up to over night.

When the custard is chilled, make the ice cream according to the maufactururers instructions.

Roughly chop the espresso beans.

When the ice cream is half way through the churning process, add the chopped espresso beans.

Scoop the ice cream into a container.

Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Scoop and enjoy!