Why Duff Goldman Loves Häagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream - Exclusive

Duff Goldman may be a famous pastry chef, but that doesn't mean the "Spring Baking Championship" judge only likes super-fancy desserts. In fact, in an exclusive interview with Mashed, Goldman shared that his favorite coffee ice cream comes from a mass-market brand you can find in almost any grocery store: Häagen-Dazs.

When we asked him why Häagen-Dazs beats all of its competitors, Goldman replied, "I think one, it's probably the coffee that they're using, but two, I think it's just because it's premium, so it doesn't have a lot of overrun." Overrun is an ice cream industry term for the amount of air whipped into the product — soft serve is light and fluffy because it's up to 60% air. Premium brands like Häagen-Dazs are closer to 20% air, making them feel luxurious, creamy, and rich. And among all of Häagen Dazs' offerings, its coffee is often ranked as the very best flavor.

Häagen-Dazs isn't just Goldman's preferred coffee ice cream — it's his favorite coffee dessert, period. He prefers it over an affogato (espresso poured over ice cream) primarily because of its convenience: "Listen, an affogato is beautiful and delicious, right? Who doesn't love that? But it's not something you have all the time." Häagen-Dazs gives you incredible coffee flavor straight out of the tub when it's cold, Goldman explained, "but it's also so delicious when it's warmed up, and it's just so rich and velvety and just perfect."

The underappreciated truth about coffee – for Duff Goldman, at least — is that coffee ice cream is actually a better way to enjoy the stuff than just sipping on a black cup of Joe. As he put it, coffee has a "big bold flavor that, when there's no cream and no sugar, it's pretty acidic." It's so intense that it's hard to perceive all of the nuances of its flavor until you mellow it out with dairy and sweeten it a bit. Paradoxically, by mixing it with other ingredients, you're better able to appreciate its finer details. (In that way, Goldman finds it similar to bourbon, which is often diluted before consumption.)

With Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, because of the high-quality coffee and the added cream and sugar, "you really get, I think, just a really good authentic coffee experience. It's got those burnt sugar notes." Goldman's ideal hot coffee, cinnamon-spiked Mexican café de olla, also uses mix-ins to transcend basic java. He orders it with "a lot of milk, no sugar. Just that cinnamon makes it so just ... I don't know. Yummy and interesting."

Watch Duff Goldman on Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship." You can also have cakes shipped from Charm City Cakes nationwide.