The secret here is good espresso served icy cold. The ice cream softens in the coffee, creating a lovely dessert you start out eating with a spoon and end by sipping the rich, creamy elixir. To make this dessert a breeze to put together, make the espresso in the morning to allow time to chill and freeze ice cream balls ahead of time.
Vanilla ice cream
4 cups brewed espresso, refrigerated until cold (I placed the coffee in the freezer for 20 minutes before serving.)
1. A day ahead, make 8 scoops of ice cream and place on a baking sheet lined with either wax paper, foil, or parchment paper (lining the baking sheet is important so that the ice cream balls don't freeze to the sheet). Place in freezer, uncovered, until hard. Then cover with plastic wrap and freeze at least 8 hours.
2. Make a 4-cup pot of good espresso (I like to use my French press for this.) Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Place two scoops of ice cream in each of four deep serving bowls and pour the espresso on top. Serve immediately with interesting cookies, such as Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Rolled Wafers from Central Market.
For the other Cool Cookin' recipes from the July issue CLICK HERE.
