Copycat Mudpie Mojo Ice Cream

We have had several big milestones the last few weeks for the little one.  She is now six months, crazy how that time has flown by.  She can now roll over, mostly only back to belly.  This causes many issues as she gets stuck and cries.  Fun times? No.   Her sleep is now completely out of whack! Which means mommies sleep is crap.   We worked so hard to do sleep training around 5 months to have it now gone.  Ugh.   I think she is also teething yet no teeth have surfaced.   We have also started solid foods or well purees.  Since most of the food at this point doesn't make it in her mouth it has not had the effects of helping her sleep. I am making my own food because it is cheap and easy. Last night we did our first mixed concoction of kale and apple, and she liked it.  Phew.

It has definitely been busy with all these new changes.  I think she is also going through a "want mom" stage because some days I can barely put her down for 10 minutes without a fuss. 8-10pm is my crunch time for the blog.

It looks like the rest of this week is going to be a wonderful week weather wise so I am looking forward to some outdoor fun with the little one.  What is the best thing to have in hot weather, ICE CREAM of course.  My husband and I make a trip to Cold Stone, well more often than we should.   My husband always orders the same thing, Mudpie Mojo. It is coffee ice cream with peanut butter, fudge sauce, oreos and almonds.  I know, right! All the good stuff.  I decided to create this for him

Irish Coffee Caramel Ice Cream

Anyone still recovering from daylight savings? I am not quite recovered, but probably my fault  for going to a movie last night and then staying up to watch my PVR'd "The Voice"  I then sadly had to wake myself up just after  6 to get ready for work.   YAWN!   I did see "Friends with Kids" last night and it was actually quite cute and funny.

Despite my loss of sleep I am quite happy about the additional daylight.  We got fairly lucky this year in terms of a winter in Southern Ontario.   We had very few major storms and temperatures were never really that bad for that long.   There is still something to be said for more hours of daylight though.  Moderately cold darkness is still no fun.   I mean we all need a little more Vitamin D in our lives.   I can also use the additional day light for photography.   Those few extra hours of daylight after work make such a difference.  I know longer need to try a fiddle around with my clamp lights or save all my baking for the weekend.   I have flexibility again and that I like.

This wonderful yet scary surge of warm weather is already kicking in my cravings for ice cream.  Uh-oh!  At least with the extra daylight I can go for longer jogs.  Win, Win.  

Irish Coffee Caramel Ice Cream 


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
• 1 heaping tbsp glucose
• 4 tbsp xylitol or granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup Irish cream
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 heaping tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup dulche de leche
• 2-3 tbsp chocolate shavings. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) In a medium-large sauce pan, heat on medium milk, heavy cream, espresso powder, Irish cream, glucose and 2 tbsp xylitol.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks, cornstarch and remaining xylitol/sugar.
3) Slowly, while whisking pour in half of the milk/cream mixture to temper the eggs.  
4) Add the egg-milk mixture back into the sauce pan with remaining liquid.
5) Turn heat back up to medium, whisking constantly until liquid begins to thicken.  Do not let the mixture boil or the eggs will curdle.
6) Once thickened remove from heat and run through a sieve into the medium bowl.
7) Cover the liquid directly with saran wrap and place the medium bowl into a large bowl with ice water.  Refrigerate until cold.
8) Run through your ice cream maker/attachment as per instruction.   I have the kitchen aid mixer attachment and ran for 20-25 minutes, adding chocolate shavings in the last few minutes.  The ice cream will be off the walls of the canister.

9) Place into a freezer safe container and swirl in dulche de leche.  May I also recommend some toffee bits.

If you like Irish Coffees you will love this.  Creamy, sweet and smooth. Mmmm.caramel.  Sometimes I find with homemade ice cream it has the tendency to freeze very hard.    This ice cream even after a few days was easily scooped.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!

I scream, Brad screams...we love LOVE our ice cream.

Can you believe I have had my ice cream maker for 10 months now and I have not yet used it.  How sad is that?  All this time we have been going out to get our ice cream, well that craziness is over.  Last year our friend Chris told us about this new slab ice cream addition that was added to one of the local Tim Horton's.  Knowing our love for ice cream he said we had to go try this immediately.   This wonderful addition to our lives was Cold Stone Creamery.  I know if you are reading this from the US, Cold Stone is probably not that new to you but it has only started to pop up with in the last year in Canada.  We truly thank you for this. We are huge fans.  I am not sure if it is the endless combinations of toppings and ice cream or the way the everything gets blended together on the ice cold slab to create a flavour masterpiece in a bowl, whatever it is, It's good.  So good we have no problems going in the bitter cold winter.   Every time we go Brad gets the same thing, literally every time. Mud Pie Mojo - Coffee ice cream, roasted almonds, crushed oreo, peanut butter and fudge sauce.   Your mouth is watering right now, isn't it?    I figured it was time to try and make my own version of this delectable dessert.

Coffee Ice Cream

(tweaked from Bakedbree.com recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp instant coffee
• 1 tbsp espresso powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1 cup skor bits
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Add egg yolk and vanilla paste in a medium bowl and whisk together.   Set aside  

2) Combine sugar, cornstarch, coffee, espresso and salt in a sauce pan and whisk together.

3) Slowly stir in milk and cream, heat over medium-high heat whisking constantly until milk begins to boil and the liquid begins to thicken.

4) Temper in the hot liquid into the egg yolk, by pouring a small amount into the egg yolk, whisk as you pour to combine and prevent the egg yolk from cooking.    Once combined add in the rest of the mixture, whisking all together.  

5) Cover the mixture with saran wrap, directly on the liquid to prevent a film from forming.  Let the mixture chill for several hours

6) Follow your ice cream maker instructions for final freezing, adding the skor bits and dark chocolate chips at the end of this stage depending on your instructions. 

7) Once it has completed its cycle in your machine, transfer it to a container for storage in the freezer.   The ice cream is best frozen for a few more hours. 

This ice cream was incredible! It was impossible to not sneak some spoon licks while I was trying to take some photos.  Perfect coffee flavour, smooth, creamy and just all around wonderful.   The chocolate chips and skor bits added the perfect amount of crunch and sweetness.   If I didn't know better I would have thought I was at Cold Stone.  Brad made his own "mud pie mojo", mixing the ice cream with some peanut butter, almonds and cookies and cream Hershey's kisses (the closest we had to oreos).  He was thrilled.  It was also nice to have a natural ice cream.  I knew every thing that went into this, nothing artificial, no preservatives.  I feel a new addiction for making my own ice cream developing and just in time for spring and summer.  I am so excited and so is Brad.

MEG's RATING - D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!