Never tickle a sleeping dragon.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Coconut-pineapple ice cream
Previously, I provided instructions for making fruit ice cream. Yesterday I crafted a batch of coconut-pineapple ice cream, in another variation on Alton Brown's recipe for vanilla ice cream. Here's the process...
1/2 cup pineapple, drained and cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 1/2 cups of bakers cream (or heavy whipping cream)
9 ounces (by weight) of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 tablespoons of vodka or rum
Put the coconut in a medium glass bowl, and pour the milk over it. Put this in the microwave, and zap it 'til the milk boils. Let it sit half an hour or so, then put it in the fridge overnight.
A couple hours before starting the ice cream, add three tablespoons of vodka or rum to the pineapple and put it in the fridge.
Half an hour before starting the ice cream, put a spatula, large glass bowl, and 6-8 cup plastic container in the freezer.
Empty the milk and coconut mixture into your food processor, and pulse a few times until the coconut has been reduced to small pieces. Dump this back into the glass bowl, and add the sugar. Whisk, then add the cream, the vanilla, and one more tablespoon of vodka or rum. Also drain off and add the liquid from the pineapple currently chilling in the fridge (then put the drained pineapple in the freezer to chill further). Mix again, and add the cream mixture to your churner.
25-30 minutes later, empty the ice cream into the large glass bowl from the freezer, add the pineapple, and fold with the spatula. Empty this into the plastic container, freeze for a few hours to ripen, and voila, you have coconut-pineapple ice cream.
It will taste a bit gritty, due to the coconut pieces from the food processor. Personally, I think this adds a nice texture to the ice cream.
The alcohol will help keep the pineapple from freezing solid, as in the aforementioned fruit ice cream recipe. (Frozen fruit chunks are not, as Alton Brown would say, "Good eats.") The alcohol will also help keep the ice cream from freezing too solidly.
--edit--
Why am I using unsweetened coconut? Because of the 9 oz of sugar included in the recipe. There's no way of knowing how much sugar is in a bag of sweetened coconut, hence there's no way to compensate to maintain the 9 oz quantity. By buying unsweetened (or shaving it from a fresh coconut), you maintain the proper amount of sugar. Too much, and your ice cream could come out too sweet.
Similarly, always use unsalted butter when baking. Again, you don't know how much salt is in salted butter, which could potentially throw off a recipe.
1/2 cup pineapple, drained and cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 1/2 cups of bakers cream (or heavy whipping cream)
9 ounces (by weight) of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 tablespoons of vodka or rum
Put the coconut in a medium glass bowl, and pour the milk over it. Put this in the microwave, and zap it 'til the milk boils. Let it sit half an hour or so, then put it in the fridge overnight.
A couple hours before starting the ice cream, add three tablespoons of vodka or rum to the pineapple and put it in the fridge.
Half an hour before starting the ice cream, put a spatula, large glass bowl, and 6-8 cup plastic container in the freezer.
Empty the milk and coconut mixture into your food processor, and pulse a few times until the coconut has been reduced to small pieces. Dump this back into the glass bowl, and add the sugar. Whisk, then add the cream, the vanilla, and one more tablespoon of vodka or rum. Also drain off and add the liquid from the pineapple currently chilling in the fridge (then put the drained pineapple in the freezer to chill further). Mix again, and add the cream mixture to your churner.
25-30 minutes later, empty the ice cream into the large glass bowl from the freezer, add the pineapple, and fold with the spatula. Empty this into the plastic container, freeze for a few hours to ripen, and voila, you have coconut-pineapple ice cream.
It will taste a bit gritty, due to the coconut pieces from the food processor. Personally, I think this adds a nice texture to the ice cream.
The alcohol will help keep the pineapple from freezing solid, as in the aforementioned fruit ice cream recipe. (Frozen fruit chunks are not, as Alton Brown would say, "Good eats.") The alcohol will also help keep the ice cream from freezing too solidly.
--edit--
Why am I using unsweetened coconut? Because of the 9 oz of sugar included in the recipe. There's no way of knowing how much sugar is in a bag of sweetened coconut, hence there's no way to compensate to maintain the 9 oz quantity. By buying unsweetened (or shaving it from a fresh coconut), you maintain the proper amount of sugar. Too much, and your ice cream could come out too sweet.
Similarly, always use unsalted butter when baking. Again, you don't know how much salt is in salted butter, which could potentially throw off a recipe.
