Recently I discovered a new product at my local Asian supermarket. It's coconut milk, but packaged in one of those long-life UHT cardboard boxes. When I used it (to make curry) it smelled so real, so much like fresh coconut cream, I was amazed. Up to this point I had been happily using powdered coconut milk, per my mom's recommendation. But I am loving this Aroy-D brand coconut milk in a box.
So inspired by this new discovery, I came up with this recipe for coconut ice cream. (And I was also inspired by a desire to get rid of a partial package of sweetened coconut that was living in my freezer!) It's got me thinking about other coconutty ice creams -- Almond Joy ice cream, anyone?
Coconut Ice Cream
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts
2 cups coconut milk, well chilled (I used 2 8.5 oz. boxes, so I was a little over the 2 cups)
1 cup whole milk, well chilled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine the coconut milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the milk. Return mixture to the refrigerator to continue chilling. Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the shredded coconut and continued mixing for another 5 minutes. Put finished ice cream into the freezer for another 2 hours to "ripen." Enjoy!
This really isn't the kind of cake I typically make. I'm not a cake person anyway, and when I do have cake I like a bit of glaze. But Dorie Greenspan says it's a great cake to have with tea and it's definitely been tea weather the past few days, so I gave it a try. It didn't hurt that I had shredded coconut in my freezer and coconut milk in my pantry.
