Summertime = Ice Cream

There is nothing like a great dish or cone of ice cream in the summer. Yes, it's still spring here, but this weekend we had some amazing weather, and it felt like summer. It's even better when the ice cream is homemade. It takes a while to do, but when you wrap your lips around that spoon, it's all worth it. I'm from Vermont, and remember when Ben & Jerry's was just a couple of hippies selling ice cream out of an old gas station. I remember having chocolate chip... and it was real vanilla with real chocolate morsels in it. Not like the gloppy messy flavors they're selling now. This was the real thing: creamy, rich, refreshing, and filled with empty calories.

A couple of years ago I made some vanilla ice cream for a friend of mine, in honor of her birthday. It was my first time making ice cream, and it pretty delicious. Since then I've made it for special occasions - from start to finish, it takes about 24 hours to properly have everything done. Recently, I was reading Amy Sedaris's Cookbook and a recipe caught my eye: Coconut Custard Ice Cream. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, but I thought I would give it a try. I'm so very glad I did. You can try it too - and buy her fantastic, over-the-top production values book. It's pretty hilarious.

Take your chilling unit from your ice cream maker and place it in the freezer. I use the Cuisineart 1-1/2 quart ice cream maker. It's easy to use, and easy to clean. If you have one of those hand-cranked things that you have to pack with ice and salt, you're on your own here. Follow manufacturers directions for preparation.

Take 2 cups heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, and 3/4 cup of cream of coconut (Pepe Lopez works - and tastes - great). Whisk together over low heat in a double boiler or a heavy saucepan. Do not allow this mixture to boil - it will curdle the cream and you'll have to start over. Stir occassionally and heat until it's 175'. While you're waiting for it to come up to temp, take 4 eggs and whisk together. Add 3/4 cup milk (you can use any kind of milk - I use the 1% to save on calories. Yeah, right), mix well. When the cream mixture is up to 175', remove from heat. Take about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture and, while constantly stirring, slowly add it to the egg mixture. This is called "tempering" and it keeps your eggs from cooking (if you were to plop them into the hot mixture you would end up with a very expensive, creamy batch of sweet scrambled eggs) by slowly bringing their temperature up. Amy says to use a couple of tablespoons, but I add about 1 cup total, continually stirring. Then slowly add the egg mixture - which has now been tempered - to the cream mixture


and put it back on the heat. Heat until it is smooth and slightly thickened, to 160'. Stir this mixture constantly. When it comes up to heat, add 1/3rd cup sweeted grated coconut. Stir everything together, place in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.

Make sure the plastic wrap is touching the top of the ice cream base; it doesn't need to be stretched across the top. If you don't cover the mixture itself, it's going to form a skin on top of the mixture.

This mixture needs to chill for at least 3 hours, and I recommend chilling it overnight.

The next day, take your chilling unit from the freezer, assemble the ice cream maker, start 'er up, and slowly pour the ice cream mixture into the mixer. It takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes to freeze. I like to test it periodically to see if it's ready (and, yes, to taste it). When it seems set - similar to a good soft-serve ice cream - place the ice cream into a reclosable container (like tupperware) and freeze for another 3-4 hours, until solid.


Dish it up, garnish with some toasted sliced almonds and some cocoa nibs, and enjoy!

This is a treat well worth the wait. It's absolutely scrumptious. Not a low-calorie dessert, but a nice treat for special occasions. A note: these pictures, particularly of the prep, were for a batch that was 3 times what the original recipe calls for. I had to make ice cream for a bunch of people this weekend.

Enjoy!