When I was growing up, Friendly’s Ice Cream was the bomb. Friendly’s was a great place to meet friends, hang out and eat ice cream. I always ordered one of two flavors: Peppermint Stick or Coffee, although I did not drink coffee until I was 30 so my preference for the flavor at such a young age is something of a mystery to me. But I digress.
Over the years I’ve eaten—and made– a lot of ice cream, and in the past twenty years I’ve had more than my fair share of coffee and espresso (living in Seattle certainly helped with that habit), but somehow Peppermint Stick or Coffee faded from my ice cream rotation. That is until I bought a pint of Peppermint Chip ice cream from Old School Frozen Custard (If I’m not making my own, Old School is my go-to frozen treat). Little bits of red and green crushed peppermint lingered on my tongue with every creamy, mouth-refreshing spoonful. Take me away, to the endless days of summer in my youth, Friendly’s, and Peppermint Stick or Coffee ice cream.
And that’s when the idea occurred to me. Why not make Peppermint Affagato. Affagato means “drowned” which is exactly what happens when ice cream and espresso get friendly…Italian style.
Peppermint Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1-1/2 cups milk (whole)
- 8 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushed (mixing red and green peppermint adds a nice holiday touch)
How to make the ice cream
- Heat the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan until sugar and salt are dissolved (don’t let boil).
- Set the cream in a bowl nested in a larger bowl of ice.
- Place a sieve on top of the bowl with the cream. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks.
- Slowly pour in the warm milk mixture while whisking constantly (take care not to cook the eggs – this is why you temper them with the warm milk slowly). Pour the contents back into your saucepan.
- Heat the mixture over medium flame and stir constantly with a spoon or spatula. It’s good to scrape the bottom and corners of the pan so you don’t get uneven cooking. Do this for about 5-7 minutes until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.
- Pour the custard through the sieve into the cream. Stir to cool over ice and then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
- Once mixture is chilled, add peppermint extract to your desired taste.
- Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. After the ice cream is done in the machine, stir in your candy and then store in an airtight container and freeze.
How to make Affagato
Place a scoop of peppermint ice cream in bowl or coffee cup. Pour a shot of espresso (or a few tablespoons of good strong coffee) over the ice cream.
Want to get friendly with more deliciousness? Check out Wanderfood Wedneseday!