Banana Ice Cream

When I started making ice cream a couple of years ago, it never occurred to me that one of the most intense flavours would be one of the easiest to make. Not only that, there are always at least three very freckly bananas sitting in the fruit bowl crying out for attention.

I love banana stuff.....way more than actual plain bananas. Something about touching the peel bugs me. Anyway, artificial banana flavour is absolutely horrible and I tend to avoid most banana flavoured stuff unless i know it's pure banana.

This is the cookbook I use fairly often for ice cream recipes Williams-Sonoma Frozen Desserts. The banana ice cream recipe is an adaptation of the Strawberry Ice Cream recipe in this book. Unfortunately it makes a very small amount, so I prefer to double it. I have the Cuisinart Ice Cream machine that has a 1 1/2 quart capacity, so I can do a double of this particular recipe.   If you're doing a single recipe, it churns in about 40 mins. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole milk (I used 3/4 cup 1% and 1/4 cup of half&half)

1 cup heavy cream - 35%

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2-3 medium-sized ripe bananas

Put the milk and 3/4 cup of the cream and sugar into a pan and gently bring to a slight simmer, do not let this boil. This should take about four or five minutes. The sugar must be dissolved by this time.

At the same time, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup of cream until pale and creamy.

Temper the egg/cream mixture by slowly add about a quarter cup of the hot milk/cream/sugar and whisking together. The idea is to bring up the temperature of the eggs without cooking them. You don't want scrambled eggs. Add a little more hot liquid to the egg mixture and then slowly pour that into the saucepan with the remaining milk/cream.

Cook the custard over medium heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook for around five minutes until it has thicken slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let this actually bubble and boil, it should simmer lightly. 

Add the chopped bananas and gently mash them into the custard. You can use the wooden spoon or a potato masher. Let the banana custard sit for about 10 minutes before straining.

Pour the custard through a not too fine sieve. Using the back of the wooden spoon, try to push some of solid through into the custard below. You will be left with about a half cup or so of solids that you will discard. The little specks in the custard are actually banana seeds.

Cool the custard by placing the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water or in the sink. You just want this to cool to room temperature (about 30 mins). Once there, cover the surface with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least three hours before you churn. This helps the flavour develop in the custard.

Churn as per your machine instructions. Cover well and freeze until it is firm, at least three hours. This keeps well for two days or so... if it lasts that long.