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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Coconut Rum Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut

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In the month of June, I went a little crazy with my ice cream maker. Although I spread out my ice cream posts on the blog, the reality of the situation was that we were going through a LOT of heavy cream and whole milk in our house. It wasn't ideal for our grocery budget or my waistline, so I decided to take a little break from my favorite dessert and instead indulge on brownies and cheesecake (also not good for my waistline, heh, but that's neither here nor there).

Then one of my dearest friends Katie arrived at my house one day with Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in hand. And with that, the ice cream drought was over. This book is amazing--I've read about it all over the place and had even checked it out from the library, but hadn't yet made anything. Jeni is an ice cream master. Not only is her technique unusual (no eggs, a cream cheese slurry), but her flavors are some of the most creative I've ever seen! I love that the book is organized by season and I love the various options she gives for additional flavors. If you love to make ice cream at home, this book is a must for your cookbook library (THANK YOU Katie for making it a part of mine!).

After flipping through the book a few times, I set out to make  the Bourbon Ice Cream with Toasted Butter Pecans. It wasn't until I began that I realized I couldn't find any bourbon in our house. After I fired off a quick "911! Where's the bourbon?" text to Ryan, I decided I'd have to forego my original plan. Enter: Malibu, my favorite type of rum. Jeni offered a recipe for a rum ice cream with toasted coconut and I decided to up the coconut flavor by using Malibu.

Success? You bet! Ryan decided this is one of his favorite ice creams I've ever made. I had to literally restrain myself from returning to the freezer for 'just another spoonful' after the tenth trip or so. Though it wasn't the autumn-inspired bourbon ice cream I was going for, it's one I'm willing to make and eat year-round!

No worries, bourbon ice cream is coming...

One Year Ago: Pumpkin Scones
Two Years Ago: Cranberry Apple Scones

Coconut Rum Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut
slightly adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home
Ingredients:
-2 cups whole milk
-1 tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
-3 tbsp cream cheese, softened
-1/4 tsp fine sea salt
-1 1/4 cups heavy cream
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 tbsp light corn syrup
-1/4 cup coconut rum
-1 cup coconut (original called for unsweetened, I used sweetened), toasted

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of milk with the cornstarch until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk cream cheese and salt.
2. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Set aside. Toast the coconut by placing on a baking sheet and baking at 325F for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining milk, the cream, the sugar, and the corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
4. Return the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, for 1 minutes (mixture will slightly thicken). Remove from heat and gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese, stirring until smooth.
5. Stir in the coconut rum. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon freezer bag and seal. Place the bag in the prepared ice bath and allow to stand until cool, approximately 30 minutes (you may need to add extra ice).
6. Once cool, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn until thick and creamy (note--mixture will resemble soft serve ice cream, but will continue to thicken/harden in the freezer). Stir in toasted coconut before placing ice cream in an airtight container. Freeze for at least 4 hours until ready to serve.

Linked to Eat at Home.