Croissants and Coffee Ice Cream
Serves 6
30 mins prep
38 mins cook
750 mins Chilling, Churning, Freezing Time
818 mins total
A smooth, creamy, and roasted coffee bean flavored ice cream packed with chunks of crispy croissants.
Toasted Croissants
Coffee Ice Cream Base
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***If you're ice cream machine has a bowl that needs to be frozen, place it in the freezer now!
Baked Croissants Pieces
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Slice baked croissants into 1/2-inch chunks and place them into a mixing bowl.
2,3 baked croissants
Toss croissant pieces with the melted butter and sugar. Spread them in an even layer on the baking pan.
tbsp salted butter
tbsp granulated sugar
Bake for 20-30 minutes, tossing halfway until golden brown and crunchy. Careful not to over-bake. Cool and set aside until ready to assemble ice cream.
Roast Coffee Beans and Steep in the Milk/Cream
Place coffee beans on a baking tray and roast for 3 minutes at 350℉ (180℃). Slightly mash or grind them into large broken pieces.
oz whole coffee beans
tbsp instant espresso powder
Steep the coffee beans and espresso powder with the milk and heavy cream. Place the milk and cream into the medium saucepan, heat on medium heat until a soft boil. Remove from the heat.
Cover the pot with a piece of plastic wrap to trap in the steam and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Strain out the beans before continuing to make the ice cream base.
Coffee Ice Cream Base
**Set a large bowl fitted with a metal sieve next to the stovetop.
Place the saucepan back over a medium heat. Whisk together the milk, cream, skim milk powder, honey, instant coffee, and salt.
grams/ml heavy cream (32-35% butterfat)
grams/ml whole milk (3.6% butterfat)
oz skim or nonfat milk powder
tsp fine sea salt
oz honey
Heat mixture until it reads 113℉ (45℃) on instant thermometer, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the granulated sugar, followed by slowly drizzling in the beaten egg yolks, while constantly whisking. Since the liquid is not too hot at this point, it's easier to temper the eggs right after the sugar and directly into the base.
oz granulated sugar
oz egg yolks
Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the base until it reaches between 175℉ (79℃) and 180℉ (82℃) on the thermometer. Stir continuously with a whisk to prevent over-cooking the custard at the bottom of the saucepan.
The ice cream base is cooked when it reaches desired temperature, when it coats the back of a spoon and you can easily draw a line through the custard with your finger tip.
Immediately remove from heat and pour the custard through the mesh sieve into the large bowl.
Stir in the vanilla. Cool the base to room temperature, occasionally stirring to prevent a skin from forming.
tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
Once cooled, place a layer of plastic wrap directly onto the custard and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. This "aging" step is important to create a cold ice cream base for churning.
Churn and Freeze
Remove the cold ice cream base from the fridge. Blend with a handheld immersion blender for smoothness. Pour into your ice cream machine. Churn as directed for your machine, usually 28-30 minutes.
The ice cream should look like soft serve when it's done.
Spoon 1/3 of the ice cream into a chilled freezer safe storage container. Sprinkle with the baked croissant pieces and stir gently to mix them in.
Repeat with remaining ice cream and croissant chunks.
Cover container with lid or plastic wrap and freeze for about 3-4 hours before serving.