Coffee Cajeta Ice Cream

Happy 2021! It’s been a crazy past 12 months, but I’m so excited for the new year.

In the meantine, I’m sharing this awesome coffee cajeta ice cream recipe. This recipe is in collaboration with Taza chocolate. Technically, cajeta is a thickened caramel usually made of sweetened caramelized goat’s milk; I just used regular caramel since that’s all I had, but cajeta reminds me of my time growing up in San Antonio.

This is the busiest stretch for me regarding work.

In December, I did hematology oncology consults at the county hospital which was quite busy. It’s the main trauma center for the entire Pacific Northwest, with patients being flown in from Alaska to Montana. There’s also a large safety net patient population, and a lot of diversity in culture, socioeconomic status, and language. This rotation gives a lot of independence, which was nerve wracking but also really good for me.

In January, I’m doing hematology consults at the main university hospital. This is also an extremely busy rotation, as the hospital also serves the entire Pacific Northwest, and you get a lot of interesting “zebra” cases. Even though it’s busy, it’s a popular rotation as you get to learn a lot.

We’re on call all the time, so admitted I’ve been drinking a bit of coffee on days I need a pick me up since I’ve been so tired. The daylight is quite limited in Seattle during the winter months, so I can see why everyone loves coffee here. I’m still not a big coffee drinker, probably less than half a cup once a week, but it does help get me started with the workday.

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
6-8 tablespoons strong coffee
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks (I would try using 4 next time)
1/3 cup cajeta or dulce de leche
6 ounces chopped chocolate (I used Taza chocolate)

Directions
In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, heavy cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar, ground coffee, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar.

Gradually add the warm coffee-infused milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk or spatula , until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (don’t let the eggs scramble!). Optional step: pour the custard through the strainer to get out any egg curds. Let the ice cream base cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge overnight.

Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While it’s churning, drizzle the cajeta/dulce de leche and sprinkle the chopped chocolate. Transfer to a container and chill in the freezer for several hours. When serving, add additional cajeta/dulce de leche and chocolate. Enjoy!