For as long as I can remember I’ve loved ice cream. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry… or when I was feeling indecisive, neapolitan! When I was a kid my parents used to take my brother and I to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Going there was a special treat, and after a huge plate of pasta topped with mizithra cheese I’d always order a serving of spumoni ice cream. Ah, those were the days. What was your favorite ice cream flavor as a child?
Though I still love spumoni, for the past few years my favorite flavor of ice cream has been coconut. I love it’s sweetness and texture, but since I’ve yet to find it at the grocery store my indulgences have been limited to the rare fancy restaurant visit. Even Cold Stone doesn’t serve it, and though one can get a “mock” version by ordering a yummy coconut cream pie combination, it just isn’t the same.
Then my birthday rolled around and the hubby gave me an ice cream maker along with several books on making gourmet ice cream. Joy!! Moments after opening the box I popped the core of the machine into the freezer for it’s 24 hour freezing period, and by the next evening we had ourselves a lusciously flavorful batch of homemade coconut ice cream.
Indeed, this stuff is so good that I skipped my free birthday ice cream at Cold Stone in favor of eating what we’d made at home. (I’d even go so far as to say that this is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.) If you’re a coconut & ice cream fan who has an ice cream maker at home, do give this recipe a go. Next week I’ll be posting a recipe for vanilla ice cream made with rose water. I’m thinking it’ll be an excellent companion to thanksgiving apple pie. :yum:
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Place in the hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the coconut turns a light brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs with a hand held mixer until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
Combine the half-and-half with the coconut milk in a heavy medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot liquid into the eggs and sugar. Briefly rinse your saucepan and rub dry with paper towel or cloth. Pour the eggs, sugar, etc mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, about five minutes, then stir in the toasted coconut, heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold (about 5 hours) or overnight.
Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours. (We froze ours overnight and had perfect, scoopable ice cream the next evening.)