Breakfast for Dessert? Bacon & Coffee Ice Cream!

Walking through the grocery store it is not uncommon to see carts with coffee, bacon and ice cream. These three items are regular additions to our grocery list too. We start every day with a freshly brewed cup of java while ice cream is an indulgence at the end of a busy day. With two teenage boys, bacon is a frequently used ingredient at our house any time of day: for breakfast (with eggs), lunch (in a BLT) and dinner (in Carbonara.)

In America, bacon is usually made from pork belly and may be smoked, boiled, fried, baked, grilled or used as a minor ingredient to flavor dishes. Bacon is also used for barding (wrapping) roasts and game birds to keep it from drying out while cooking. Less traditional recipes with bacon include bacon chocolate bars, Baconnaise and even a bacon inhaler! When Foodbuzz and Denny's teamed up to sponsor the "BACONALIA" challenge, we thought this coffee ice cream recipe would be the perfect entry to be featured in the Foodbuzz May "Flavor of the Month" section for a chance to win a Denny's gift card.

The combination of these three ingredients may sound quirky, but results in a decadent and delicious dessert! This recipe makes about one quart.

Billionaire?s Bacon & Coffee Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup espresso (or VERY strong coffee)
½ teaspoon coffee or espresso, finely ground
4 slices Billionaire?s bacon (recipe here)

Combine eggs, yolks, coffee and coffee grounds and brown sugar in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk or electric beater for about 3 minutes. Heat milk and cream in a medium saucepan, but do not let them boil, just ?scald? it until it is near the boiling point - a thin skin may form on the surface. Remove from heat and very slowly pour in 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and beat rapidly with a whisk. Then pour the egg-milk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture while beating. Return the mixture to medium low heat, stirring constantly for a few more minutes to thicken the mixture. When it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, turn off the heat.

Pour ice cream mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the liquid and refrigerate until completely cool. Then, pour mixture into ice cream maker (we use a Krups "La Glaciere") and follow your machine?s directions for how long it should churn.

Crumble the slices of Billionaire?s bacon and add to the ice cream machine during the last minutes of churning. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2 hours before serving. Garnish dish with another piece of Billionaire?s bacon and a pinch of black pepper or espresso powder.