In honour of me finally watching The Big Lebowski I decided to add the White Russian to my list of summer cocktails. But since it’s summer, and I still have dry ice, I decided to mix things up a bit and make White Russian soft serve ice cream.
The basis for this recipe is from Chef Steps, but we’re going to modify it just enough to avoid copyright issues:
- 12 oz half and half
- 4 oz coffee liqueur
- 2 oz vodka (vanilla flavoured if you have it)
- 1/4 cup agave
- dash of pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk powder
- 2 lb dry ice
The process is extremely simple. Just like before, we’re going to start by crushing the dry ice into a fine powder, making sure to avoid any chunks. Large chunks won’t mix in, and can be potentially dangerous if you were to ingest one.
Then put everything into the mixer (or blender) except the dry ice and stir to combine. With the mixer running, slowly sprinkle in the dry ice one spoonful at a time, waiting until the dry ice is fully incorporated before adding another, and pausing to enjoy the cloud of smokey fog that emerges with each spoonful.
Eventually your ice cream will get thicker and set up nice and firm. Dish it up with some caramel sauce, a boozy candied cherry, and a really small spoon.
Hopefully this will get you inspired to try whipping up a fun summer soft serve. Check out the Kahlua page for other drink ideas like mudslides and B52s.
Kahlua is the obvious choice for coffee liqueur, but feel free to try out other variations. For this recipe I used Down To Earth coffee liqueur that I picked up in Costa Rica.
Just a quick note about safety: As I mentioned before, dry ice is extremely cold and can cause frost bite if you touch it directly, so use caution when handling it. Another concern is that as it “melts” it becomes carbon dioxide, which, if inhaled, will cause suffocation. Be careful when transporting it so that you don’t fill your car with CO2 and pass-out. Lastly, I mentioned the importance of breaking up the dry ice into very fine pieces. Larger chunks can be dangerous if ingested. Knowing how dangerous this is, doesn’t it make you want to try it even more?
And if you’re in the Bay Area, and want to feature great summer cocktails at your next party, contact me to schedule a tasting.