Once it warms up, I love to make ice cream and sorbet with my Cuisinart Ice Cream maker. It is so very simple and delicious--not to mention fun to serve. Some of my favorites are chocolate sorbet, peanut butter ice cream with fudge ripple and cream cheese ice cream served with some sort of fruity sauce. By my absolute favorite? The one that is addictive beyond all others? Coconut ice cream....just typing it makes my mouth water.
When it comes to coconut, I am divided. In general, I don't care for it at all. My grandmother always made a coconut cake in the spring and I remember at least one birthday cake covered in the white flakey stuff. It isn't so much the taste I detest, as the texture I can't abide--those chewy nibs in cookies, frosting and other desserts. But I do like coconut milk in savory dishes like curries and other Asian concoctions. And in ice cream...
I think this recipe came from Martha Stewart Living, but I can't remember as it is so simple I don't even have to look at it any longer. It makes a perfect ending to an Asian or Latin-themed meal. I like to serve it with fortune cookies (for Asian meals) and Goya brand dulche de leche wafers, as seen here. (I can't tell you how good these cookies are, really. They have several other flavors, but these are truly IT. Find them, you'll eat the entire package. I get mine at Thai Bin, the Asian grocery. Go figure.)
Recipe: Coconut Ice Cream
16 oz. can coconut milk (light is alright, but just Asian style milk, not something like Coco Lopez which you might use for making a cocktail), I like to chill the can in the fridge
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Chill the mixture until very cold then process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Freeze until firm...
Share it with your friends (they will worship you) or eat the entire bowl yourself!
Mangez!