COFFEE MILK CUSTARDS
Feeds 6
Rhode Island has a more specific food culture than any small state we have ever visited. The folks in Providence who came to our potluck were kind, enthusiastic good cooks who had very definite opinions on every dish we mentioned. When someone talked about coffee milk, Danny and I both looked puzzled. “Wait, you haven’t tried coffee milk?!” someone said, and then the entire room seemed to roar. It turns out that coffee milk—like chocolate milk made with sweetened coffee syrup instead of chocolate syrup—is the state drink of Rhode Island. After we made some for ourselves, I saw why. Most folks buy their coffee syrup (Autocrat being the dominant brand in Rhode Island, with Dave’s Coffee supplying a syrup without high-fructose corn syrup), but we found it so easy to make our own that we had to stop making it for fear of drinking it all the time. Instead, we put it into these coconut milk custards. Coffee milk indeed!
- For the coffee syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee (you could even try espresso)
- 1 cup (210 grams) organic cane sugar
- For the custards
- 1½ cups coconut milk
- ½ cup (105 grams) organic cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole coffee beans
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour
- ½ cup cold coconut cream
Make the coffee syrup. Set a large pot over medium-high heat. Pour the water, coffee, and sugar into the pot. Stirring constantly, heat until the liquid starts to come to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer the liquid, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves and the liquid starts to thicken into a syrup, 5 to 6 minutes. Use a pastry brush to wipe down the sides of the pot once in a while. Keep the heat low, because boiling the syrup will turn it bitter. Take the pot off the heat and pour the syrup into a thick glass or mug.
Simmer the milk. Clean out the pot in which you simmered the syrup and set it over medium-high heat again. Pour in the coconut milk, sugar, coffee beans, and vanilla bean paste (or extract). Bring the milk to a simmer and then turn the heat down to low. Stir occasionally until the sugar has entirely dissolved. Turn off the heat.
Make the custard base. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, ¼ cup of the coffee syrup, and the arrowroot. Slowly, whisking continuously, add the warm milk mixture until it has all become fully incorporated. Return the mixture to the pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Whisk continuously until the custard starts to thicken, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Strain the custard base through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Let the custard base cool to room temperature, then pour it into 6 ramekins. Cover the ramekins loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to chill entirely.
Serve with coconut whipped cream and a drizzle of the coffee syrup.
