Coffee Bourbon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, separated 1 cup and 1 cup
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 7/8 cup of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup dark roasted coffee beans
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 to 3 Tbsp bourbon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chip-sized chunks

Directions

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of the cream, sugar, salt, and coffee beans in a medium saucepan. Warm everything over medium heat until the mixture is steaming and you see small bubbles gathering around the edge of the pan. Take the pan off the heat, cover it, and let it stand for 1 hour.
2. When the coffee beans have had their hour in the hot milk and cream, strain the mixture and throw away the beans. While that infusion is happening, pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium metal bowl, and set that bowl inside a larger bowl filled with ice water. Set a mesh strainer over the bowl with the cream.
3. Pour the strained milk and cream mixture back into the saucepan and warm it over medium heat until it is steamy again, but do not let it boil. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Keep whisking while you slowly ladle in some of the hot milk and cream mixture, adding about half of it to the yolks so the eggs warm up gently instead of scrambling. Then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cream mixture.
4. Cook the custard base slowly over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. When you can drag your finger across the back of the spoon and the line stays put, pull the saucepan off the heat.
5. Right away, pour the hot custard through the mesh strainer into the chilled cream sitting over the ice bath. This cools the mixture quickly, and if any little curdled bits snuck in, the strainer will take care of them.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for several hours, preferably overnight, until the mixture is thoroughly chilled.
7. When you’re ready to churn the ice cream, stir in the bourbon and the vanilla extract. Do not use more than 2 1/2 tablespoons of bourbon, or the ice cream will not get firm. Use no more than 3 Tbsp of bourbon, or the ice cream will have a hard time freezing.
8. Churn the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
9. After the ice cream has churned, stir in the chocolate chips, then transfer it to a container and put it in the freezer. Let it freeze for several hours to firm up before serving.