Curried Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

2 cans of coconut milk
2/3 cup cocoa powder
6 tbsp sugar (more if desired — taste it before putting it in the ice cream maker!)
2 tbsp hot yellow curry powder
toasted coconut (optional)

Mix all ingredients well and put in the ice cream maker.  Mmmmm.

So simple.  So yummy.  Let me know what you think.

First off, I grabbed a can of pumpkin pie filling from the store.  You know, the one that has everything but eggs & evaporated milk in it?

And then I had 2 cans of coconut milk.  So I blended them together (it was very thick — that should have been my first warning sign) and put it in the ice cream maker.

I ended up with this:

It wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t very sweet or creamy like the chocolate coconut ice cream I made before.  And because I used a 30oz can of pumpkin pie filling and 26oz of coconut milk the consistency was off.  It was so thick my blender gave up on it after a few minutes.  Not good.  I guess next time (if there is one with this recipe) I’ll use more coconut milk than pie filling.

I think a better idea for coconut & pumpkin ice cream is to use pumpkin pie spice and coconut milk.  I would say 2 cans of coconut milk, 1 cup of sugar, and some pumpkin pie spice would make something tasty.

Ice cream making isn’t an adventure if you don’t get lost at least a few times along the way!

Now I’ve got to figure out how to eat all this pumpkin pie coconut ice cream in my freezer. *sigh*

Faith at Mekuno Cooking offered up this recipe:

Pumpkin-Coconut Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 can coconut cream (not coconut milk – Coco Lopez, found with the drink mixers)
1 cup cream
1 cup half and half (or whole milk)

Whisk the egg yolks in a medium saucepan with sugar, salt and spices. Whip them until yellow and lightened in texture and volume. Whisk in the pumpkin.

Stir in the can of Coco Lopez. Add to the yolks. Whisk thoroughly then whisk in cream and half/half.

Put over medium low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 10-15 minutes. Do not let it boil. Stir until temperature is 175-180ºF. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl.

Refrigerate for four hours or overnight, then freeze in your ice cream maker. Store for up to two weeks, tightly covered with a double layer of plastic wrap or foil underneath the lid of the container.

Since I’m not a big fan of making egg based ice creams, I’m going to try a variation on this recipe.  And since I like to keep it simple I think I’m going to try it with just coconut milk instead of coconut cream, cream & half n half.

Wish me luck!  I hope mine turns out as tasty as hers!

pumpkin coconut ice cream

They use a lot of curry in southeast Asia and it’s not surprising it has a lot of great health benefits. Most curry powders contain tumeric, which has a multitude of medicinal properties.  So, why not put curry in your desserts?

Coconut-Curry Sorbet*  (courtesy of Ulterior Epicure)

Ingredients
2 cans of coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
4 cups light corn syrup
2 tablespoon of curry powder, or to taste, recipe follows
2 teaspoons salt

Method:

1. Heat the first three ingredients in a non-reactive pot over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved.

2. While the mixture is still warm, stir in the curry powder in increments until it reaches the desired taste.  Make sure that the curry is evenly distributed.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Chill the base overnight (preferably) or at least 3 to 4 hours.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  When the ice cream is near-frozen, add in the 2 teaspoons of salt.  Transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.

*Ulterior Epicure had a great paragraph distinguishing between ice cream and sorbet: Althought it’s a sorbet, it was the creamiest and richest of the five tastings.  Ice cream, by it’s very definition, must contain cream.  There are ice milks, and even sherbet, which is dairy + fruit.  And, then there’s sorbet – non-dairy liquid mixed with other ingredients, most commonly fruits. Coconut “milk”, although as creamy (in fact often higher in saturated fat content than cream) as dairy cream, is plant-derived.  Therefore, in frozen form, coconut “milk” cannot be ice cream, but rather “sorbet.”

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I’ve eaten curries from my favorite Thai restaurant, too.  But my favorite thing to get from them is thai iced tea.  It’s so delicious.  A few years ago I found a website that sold that type of tea in bulk and I snagged a few pounds so I could make it at home.  I was so happy to find a thai tea ice cream recipe the other day.  Here it is:

Thai Tea Ice Cream

Steep tea in hot milk for at least 20 minutes:

• 1 1/2c whole milk
• 1/2c Thai tea (the dry stuff)

Mix together:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1c sugar

Stir constantly over heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon:

• 1 1/2c cream
• Strained tea/milk from above
• yolk and sugar from above

Strain again if necessary. Chill. Then do the ice cream thing.  (Source: pancake.org)

My shake choice last night was Red Bean and Coconut.  Simply delicious!  I’ve tried red bean popsicles before from the asian food market across the street (yes, this street is very well cultured!) and it wasn’t bad.  The shake, however, was 10x better.   This had me thinking I’d like to make some red bean and coconut ice cream myself.

I’m a fan of no egg ice creams, so when I came across this red bean and coconut ice cream recipe, I was delighted.

1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
3 cups coconut cream or thick coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups red bean paste
In a med bowl, whisk sugar, milk and cream til sugar is dissolved. Stir in coconut cream and vanilla.  Put in ice cream maker…. enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the Cuisinart recipe book by East Meets West

This recipe makes about 2 quarts, so you’ll want to cut it in half if you’re going to use your MEGA Play & Freeze Ice Cream Ball to make it.

Oh, and I’d just like to add that perhaps it’s just my wacky taste buds, but last night’s red bean shake had a similar taste to chocolate.  My friend, who also had a red bean shake that night, kinda agreed, but not really.  Then I found a blog about the KitKat Azuki.  Yes, a KitKat candy bar made with red beans! I guess my “red beans taste like chocolate” idea wasn’t that uncommon as the Japanese have paired it with lots of chocolate.