Baileys Irish Cream & Brownie Swirl Ice Cream

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Eve peeps!

I was going to save this post until tomorrow, because it is somewhat St. Patrick’s Day themed, what with Baileys Irish Cream and all – but I just couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you!

Besides, if I share it with you early it means that you can make it today and thus have it ready to demolish as part of your St. Patrick’s Day celebration tomorrow. You’re welcome 😀

So I’m not much of a hard liquor drinking kind of gal. What can I say – I’m a baby when it comes to liquor LOL. To be honest, the only alcoholic beverage I keep stocked for myself in our house is the one and only… Baileys Irish Cream <3 <3

Yes, I love me some coffee laced with a little Baileys Irish Cream on a lazy weekend morning…. it’s one of my favourite treats.

Basically, I just love St. Patrick’s Day, because it gives me an excuse to make things that use my favourite Irish ingredient – aka Baileys Irish Cream.

So in order to properly display my St. Patrick’s Day Spirit, I thought it was only fitting that I make a bunch of stuff that is laced with a whole lotta’ Baileys…. Good plan? I thought so.

So yeah,yesterday in honour of St. Patrick’s Day, this Baileys Irish Cream and Brownie Swirl Ice Cream situation happened… yup. I’m not quite sure how to convey just how much I love this ice cream, but what I can say, without any shadow of a doubt, is that this Ice Cream is my soulmate. Let me rephrase that – this ice cream is definitely my soulmate. For real though….

To be completely honest, I’m not even sure what the meaning of St. Patrick’s day is – {next stop google} . However, what I do know, is that if all St. Patrick’s Day means is that I get to stuff myself with homemade creations like this Baileys Irish Cream and Brownie Swirl Ice Cream… then it is pretty much my new favourite day of the year.

Seriously, if you are a Baileys lover / brownie lover / ice cream lover / fudge sauce lover…. then you need to make this ice cream happen – stat. The ice cream itself is so velvety, creamy, with just the perfect kick of Baileys – and as for the brownie and fudge sauce swirl…. do I really need to elaborate more on that?

Anyways, I’m going to keep this post short because I’m pretty sure you are ready to make this ice cream – and as for myself…. Well you see I have this very important meeting with my freezer to go and polish off the rest of this tub of ice cream. 😀

But before you get started,  just know that I have included recipes for my homemade brownies as well as homemade chocolate fudge sauce – but just know that you can make this recipe much more simple {and still equally delicious} by just using store-bought brownie mix/ready made brownies and store-bought chocolate fudge sauce. I used homemade everything, but the real star is going to be that homemade Baileys Ice Cream <3

So Happy St. Patricks Day peeps & I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Baileys Irish Cream & Brownie Swirl Ice Cream

Things you need…

Baileys Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp Baileys Irish Cream
1 cup mocha brownie chunks {recipe below – or you can just use a store bought mix or store bought brownies}
1/3 cup chocolate fudge sauce {recipe below – or just use store bought}

Homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce {if you’re not using store-bought}
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can evaporated milk, room temp {about 1 1/3 cup}
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder

Homemade Mocha Brownies
3/4 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tbsp espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

How to make…

Baileys Ice Cream
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, whole milk and 1/3 of a cup of the granulated sugar. Stir the mixture until it just starts to bubble around the edges and then remove from the heat and set aside for a minute.

Next, in a medium heat proof glass bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1/3 of the granulated sugar.Pour 1/4 of the hot cream into the beaten egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Slowly add another 1/4 cup of the hot cream to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture into the remaining hot cream in your sauce pan and return to the stove top to cook over medium heat.

Stir the egg & cream mixture with a heat proof spatula until it starts to thicken – this should take about 8-10 minutes. To test if your cream is thick enough, run your finger along the back of the spatula – if there is a trail left by your finger, the cream is ready to remove from the heat. Be careful not to leave it too long though, as you may end up with a grainy mixture and you want it to be as smooth and creamy as possible.

Pour the now custard mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl into an ice water bath, stirring occasionally to cool. Once the custard has cooled to room temperature, stir in the vanilla and baileys, and then place in the refrigerator to chill over night or for at least 6 hours.

In the meantime – prepare your brownies & fudge sauce.

Homemade Fudge Sauce
In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate and the butter over low heat. Add in the icing sugar, brown sugar, espresso powder and evaporated milk and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat back down to low and cook for an addition 5 -6 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in the vanilla. Pour into a heat proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use.

**Note: This makes a lot of chocolate fudge sauce, so there will be leftovers…. not that this is really an issue 😀

Mocha Brownies
** Note: You can prepare your brownies at the same time that you prepare your ice cream base – this will ensure they have enough time to cool before you assemble your ice cream.

Preaheat your oven to 325F degrees and line a 9×9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper; set aside.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter and the chocolate over low heat until smooth; remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Next, whisk in brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in eggs one at a time, mixing until well combined. Next stir in vanilla and espresso powder.

Use a wooden spoon to stir in flour and salt until smooth, scraping down the sides of the pot to get all the floury bits incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are set, and the centre has just set and no longer jiggles when you shake the pan.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely to room temperature – this will take a good 2 hours or so. Once completely cooled to room temperature, cover the pan with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before you are ready to use.

Ice Cream Assembly
Once your ice cream base has chilled, remove it from the fridge and place it into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. I have a kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment, and it took about 25 minutes for my ice cream to set up into the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

While your ice cream is churning, remove your brownie from the fridge and begin chopping into 1/2 inch chunks until you have about 1 heaping cups worth of chunks. You will have left over brownie… but I’m sure that won’t be a problem 😀

During the last couple minutes of the ice cream churning process, add in 2/3 of the brownie chunks to the ice cream, and allow it to churn and distribute the brownie chunks evenly. Some of the chunks might bread apart a bit and this is what you want. Once the brownie looks like it has been evenly distributed, turn the ice cream maker off and get ready to assemble.

Take out a 8×4 inch loaf pan, and set aside. Spoon about 1/3 of the Baileys ice cream into the bottom of the pan and smooth to the outer edges. Dollop a couple tbsp of the fudge sauce over top and gently swirl it around a bit with a spoon of a knife and sprinkle a few of the remaining brownie chunks over top. Repeat this process two more times to fill the container and then cover with plastic wrap and set in the freezer to chill for at least two hours before digging in.

So yeah… waiting for the ice cream to firm up, may be the longest two hours of your life… but I promise it will be worth it. Sooooo worth it.

As soon as that ice cream has firmed up you are ready to dig in – and speaking from experience, skip a bowl, because you won’t need it. Oh – And I wouldn’t judge you if you ate the ice cream over top of a piece of leftover brownie…. just sayin… 😀

Happy Ice Cream Making lovelies – Enjoy!

KP xoxo