Growing up in the South, we had homemade ice cream almost every Sunday afternoon in the summertime. Our ice cream had a very simple base of cream, whole milk and sugar. We did not use eggs in it, and we did not cook it. We added fruits and other ingredients to the base, depending upon what we had gathered that week – ripe, juicy peaches or sweet blackberries. Sometimes, we just added vanilla or chocolate to the base. Then we would put the creamy mixture into our hand-cranked churn, cover it with ice and rock salt, and start turning.
My friend Melissa has inspired me to make ice cream again – she has been making some amazing flavors this summer. This recipe was based on what I had in my kitchen one afternoon – some ripe bananas and a bar of outstanding Askinosie chocolate. It has become one of my favorites.
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 ripe banana
1 cup cream
1 cup whole milk
1 generous pinch of salt
1.5 ounces of your favorite chocolate (I typically use Askinosie’s 70% San Jose Del Tambo bar, but their Dark Milk Chocolate bar with fleur-de-sel works fantastically well, too.)
You will also need:
Small skillet
Large spoon
Measuring cup
Medium mixing bowl
Ice cream maker (I use one with a compressor in it, but you can use just about any kind.)
Instructions
Put the sugar into the skillet and heat over a medium-high flame until the sugar becomes liquid and turns honey-brown.
Don’t stir it but instead shake the pan to ensure that all of the sugar has turned to liquid.
Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Mash the banana (I do this while it is still in the peel) until it becomes soft. Peel it and carefully add it to the honey-colored liquid sugar.
Let it cook for about 30 seconds to caramelize the banana.
Add the cream, turn up the heat and bring the mixture back to a boil.
Stir over medium heat for about two minutes.
Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add the whole milk and the salt.
Stir well.
Cover and refrigerate until cool.
Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into small chunks.
When the creamy mixture has cooled, remove it from the refrigerator and add the Askinosie chocolate chunks.
Pour the mixture into your favorite ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
When the ice cream is ready, either dish it up or put it into a container and store in the freezer for later use.
I like to make this recipe a day ahead and let it “ripen” in the freezer. Remove it about 3-4 minutes before you need to dish it up so that it thaws slightly.
Serve quickly, though, because it melts fast.
Makes 1 pint of ice cream. Enjoy!
