Traditional ice cream with a boozy upgrade! Creamy, rich, with a velvety texture and lots of irish cream flavor this Baileys Ice Cream is the only dessert you'll want to eat on St. Paddy's Day!
Course Dessert
Cuisine Irish
Keyword baileys ice cream, boozy desserts, boozy ice cream, St Paddys desserts, St. Patricks Day desserts
Prep Time 12 hourshours
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Chill Time 12 hourshours
Total Time 1 dayday20 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Calories 991kcal
Equipment
ice cream maker I use the Kitchenaid attachment
heat proof mixing bowl
heavy bottom sauce pan
plastic wrap
Ingredients
Baileys Ice Cream
¼ to ½cupBaileys Irish Cream*See notes
2 ½cupsheavy cream
½cupwhole milk
½cupgranulated sugar
2teaspoonsvanilla extract or vanilla paste
½teaspoonkosher salt
6largeegg yolks
Guinness Chocolate Sauce
1cupGuinness stout
¼cupheavy cream
4ouncessemisweet chocolatechopped in small pieces
Instructions
Chill the ice cream maker in the freezer for at least 8 to 12 hours.
Whisk the egg yolks in the mixing bowl until well combined, set aside. Pour the Baileys into a storage container and set in the fridge until the ice cream base is ready to be churned.
Combine the 2 ½ cups heavy cream, ½ cup whole milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and ½ cup sugar in the sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until hot to the touch (but NOT simmering) and the sugar is melted.
Slowly add about ⅓ of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks while whisking. Once incorporated and mixed, add whisk the egg yolk cream mixture back into the remaining liquid in the saucepan.
Set over medium-low heat. Stir frequently and cook until just simmering or the custard has reached 180°F, about 10 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let the mixture boil or cook over too high a heat or the eggs will scramble!
Transfer to a heat proof mixing bowl and cover the top of the custard with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin forming during chilling). Chill for a minimum of 4 hours, but overnight is best. The colder the base the more firm your ice cream will be!
Once the base has chilled, set up your ice cream machine and churn per the manufacturers guidelines. For a Kitchenaid ice cream attachment, churn on the stir setting for 25 to 30 minutes. After churning for 20 minutes, slowly pour in the chilled ¼ to ½ cup Baileys with the mixer running. Churn for an additional 10 minutes. Optional: serve with a drizzle of Guinness Chocolate Sauce!Fast method: use ¼ cup Baileys and the ice cream will set in a scoopable texture during churning.Maximum Baileys method: use ½ cup Baileys and return the churned ice cream to the freezer for another 4 to 8 hours to set into a scoopable texture oreat as is in a soft serve style texture.
Guinness Chocolate Sauce
In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, reduce the guiness from 1 cup to 2 tablespoons, about 15 minutes. Add the cream to the pan and bring to just a simmer.
In a small mixing bowl, pour the hot guinness cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for about 5 minutes then stir until smooth. Serve right away or chill for later use. Use the double boiler method to reheat.
Notes
Sometimes making boozy desserts can be tricky because the alcohol messes with the fat content and certain percentages of alcohol will not freeze. Because Baileys is has a lower ABV than most spirits it's great for making ice cream but the more you use the 'soupier' your end result will be. I found ½ cup of Baileys to be the best flavor, but it needed to refreeze a little longer to be scoopable like traditional ice cream. You do not need to do this step, but the final result will be a softer style ice cream. OR you can use less Baileys - ¼ cup - to achieve the traditional texture without extra chill time.
Be sure to chill your ice cream maker base in advance, as well as, chill the egg custard base.
Swap vanilla bean paste for vanilla extract to make a whiter ice cream base with those delicious vanilla bean specks in each bite!