Irish Coffee Ice Cream

Irish Coffee Ice Cream 2 For espresso lovers out there, I have posted a Coffee Kahlua ice cream flavour, but I wanted to put up another coffee ice cream recipe – one that doesn’t require an espresso machine and is a real classic. Coffee and whiskey are a great combination, and this is an homage to Joe Sheridan and his invention at Foyne’s, the precursor to Shannon Airport.

Please note, there is a slightly different version of this recipe of this in the Book of Sweet Things. If you wish, you can substitute the instant coffee here for 200 ml espresso, reduced to 1/3 volume.

Murphys Irish Coffee (Caife Gaelach) Ice Cream

Ingredients:

« 150g sugar
« 5 egg yolks  
« 240 ml cream
« 200 ml milk 
« 10 gm (4 tablespoons) instant coffee
« 45 ml (3 tablespoons) Irish whiskey

Irish Coffee Ice Cream

What to do:

1. Beat in the egg yolks with the the sugar until thick and pale yellow.
2. Bring the milk to a low simmer.
3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
5. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
6. Immediately remove from the heat.
7. Stir a small amount of the warm mix into the instant coffee, until dissolved.
8. Add to the custard.
9. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C).
10. Stir in the whiskey.
11. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
12. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
13. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.

If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Yield: 8 servings

Note:

To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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It’s Official – Murphys in Galway

mccambridges All eyes are on Galway at the moment, with the Volvo Ocean Race arriving into town and the great news that the Irish/Chinese yacht, the Green Dragon, finished third into Galway, after a very difficult start. Congrats to the whole team, and I sure wish I could have been there, for the party at 4am, when the boat arrived!

mccambridges2I will, however, be heading up to Galway very soon, because we’re proud to announce that there is now a Murphys Ice Cream scooping cabinet in McCambridge’s fantastic food emporium on Shop Street in the city centre (that’s Natalie McCambridge with Sean in the photo above). 

There will be a grand opening on the 3rd of June. I’ll announce the specifics on Facebook and Twitter, and I hope that anyone in the Galway area will be able to join us for the fun.

In the meantime, if you’re in Galway, stop in for a taste!

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Finally, Finally, Finally!

wafflecone2 Business is a funny thing. Some things can be easy, and some things hard, and it’s difficult to predict in advance which will be which. The most annoying issues are ones that really aren’t that big, ones that should be easily solved, but for whatever reason we just can’t do so.

wafflecones

One of these issues has been cones. My brother and I have always been a fan of waffle cones, and when we set up the business, we had never thought we would serve anything else. However, finding cones we liked (and were reasonably priced) was quite another matter. We did find some decent ones early on, but so many of them kept arriving broken, that we gave up. We’ve been looking and looking, for almost nine years. 

Time went by, and we served our ice cream on wafer cones instead, even though we never were that excited by them. We explored the possibility of making cones, and we ordered up samples when ever we heard of a source somewhere in Europe.

Anyway, problem solved! My brother managed to find a company making great waffle cones, and we’ve just received a few pallets of them. They are extremely tasty, and they are in one piece. 

It looks like the end of the wafer cone is nigh at Murphys. Finally.

Unresolved Business

daingean-dingle The other day, when driving from Killarney to Dingle, I noticed that the road signs had been spray-painted again. Some helpful graffiti artist had decided once again to try to help tourists find the town without a name. (For anyone who doesn’t know about the controversy, where the Irish government claimed that Dingle no longer existed, there’s a whole archive of news articles here)

It’s been four years now, since the Dingle signs were first taken down, and we still don’t have a resolution. It’s almost been two years since there was a referendum in Dingle (93% voted for naming the town Dingle/Daingean Uí Chúis). Still, nothing. Every few months, the Kerry Country Council tape over the offending name, and every few months, someone puts the name back again. 

Politicians from John Gormley to Jackie Healy Rae have promised action. Still, nothing. Thousands of tourists have been lost and frustrated trying to find a town that exists in their guidebook, but not on road signs. It seems the government hopes that in the end the people of Dingle will give up and accept a name (An Daingean) that only 70 out of 1030 voters want. It’s a shameful situation.

(Note: A lot has been said and written about this issue, much of it very heated, because of the Irish language, which is under threat. In my mind, however, the issue is not that complicated. The people of Dingle voted on a name for their town, and their wishes should be respected.)

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Hot Milk Chocolate with Caramel

caramelmilkchoc I’ve been wanting to make a caramel hot chocolate for a while, and today I made a few trials, using dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and cocoa. The best one was the one I made with milk chocolate, and perhaps it also would be the best addition to the line up of hot chocolates in our shops, since we have plenty of dark options, including our Extreme Cocoa. This is very sweet, but it’s very delicious.

I don’t exactly know what to call it, so let me know if you have any ideas! Here’s the recipe:

Murphys Hot Milk Chocolate with Caramel

Ingredients:

200 g milk chocolate (good quality)
550 ml milk
250 ml caramel sauce

What to Do:

caramelmilkchoc2

1. Make the caramel sauce. 
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave.
3. Combine the milk and caramel sauce in a saucepan and warm.
4. Add the warmed milk to the melted chocolate in small parts, mixing all the time, to create a smooth emulsion.
5. Warm to drinking temperature (55C).
6. Garnish with whipped cream, drizzle with caramel sauce, and enjoy!

Six servings.

Note:
The quality will really depend on the quality of chocolate that you use. I suggest Valrhona, Callebaut, or Lindt milk chocolate.

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I Just Can’t Help Myself

Roisin, closeup I know I should get back to the business of blogging about ice cream, chocolate, coffee, etc., but after another day spent in the maternity ward with our new baby, I just can’t help posting some more photos. I do promise this will not turn into a baby blog (although I can’t promise Róisín won’t make the odd appearance!)
Manuela and Róisín


Roisin

It’s a Girl!

baby I’m delighted to announce that my partner, Manuela, gave birth to a baby girl in Tralee General Hospital.

baby2The time of birth was Saturday, May 9th at 8:52pm.

We’re going to name her Róisín Elena – the Elena for Sant’Elena, the island in Venice where my partner was born.

The new baby weighed 3.3kg, and was quite tall. She barely fit into her newborn clothes.

It was a long labour, but all was well in the end. We’re both delighted!

I can go to bed happy.

I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who have wished us well over the pregnancy including our families, our friends, our customers, the people following over on Twitter and the readers of this blog!

There’s new little ice cream eater in this world!

And if her mother and father are anything to go by, she’ll have some appetite!