Roasted Banana Ice Cream

I had some awesome people over for dinner last week. It was a super casual, sort of last minute, takeout-fueled dinner party. Aren’t those the best?  No elaborate  prep, easy clean up. I am pretty lazy during the week post-work, but takeout I can do.  And we ordered Indian food, and I love love Indian food. It’s one of those things that just doesn’t taste the same when you make it at home. Or at least when I make it at home. I guess I have to work on my curry skills.

Because I really like my special dinner guests, I got over my sloth and was able to pull together a homemade, albeit pretty easy, dessert. Thank you David Lebovitz, master of all frozen confections, for inspiring me to save my ultra-ripe bananas from a boring smoothie demise. I had originally looked through The Perfect Scoop to figure out how to make a Mango Lassi type fro yo (which I still plan on doing), BUT came across this recipe. I had all the ingredients on hand (that almost never happens) and exactly three on-the-edge bananas. Fate.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream with Mocha Sauce

both from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.  Note that the original recipes calls for whole milk.  I used skim, because that was what I had on hand.  With the Mocha Sauce, I liked the “lighter” consistency of the ice cream, but if you want yours a bit richer, go with 2% or whole.

3 medium ripe bananas
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup strongly brewed coffee
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 Tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted), divided

To make the ice cream, first preheat your oven to 400° F.

Peel and slice the bananas into 1/2 inch pieces.  Toss them in a 2-quart baking dish with brown sugar and butter.  Bake 30-35 minutes, uncovered, stirring halfway through.  Bananas will be brown and syrupy.

Cool for 15 minutes.  Scoop bananas and syrup into a blender or food processor.  Add milk, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt.  Blend until smooth.

Chill the banana mixture in your fridge until cool, and then process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

To make the Mocha Sauce, stir the first three ingredients together in a saucepan.  Bring mixture to a boil, do not stir.  Boil for 30 seconds and then remove from heat.  Whisk in chocolate and butter until melted and combined.  Let sauce rest one hour.  Reheat to desired temperature before serving.

You can make the Mocha Sauce  up to two weeks in advance.  Store in the fridge and rewarm in the microwave on low power, stirring every minute or so until hot.

Pour Mocha Sauce over ice cream and top with chocolate chips, crumbled cookies, whipped cream, etc..

Ice Cream Makes it Better

Today was a long Monday. It was dreary and cold and… Monday. Sitting at work, all I could think about was getting back in my warm bed with my brand new pillows (they’re so fluffy and ammmazing!), eating ice cream, and watching Ghostbusters on repeat. Doesn’t that sound lovely?

Anyway, by the time I was home, I was mostly cured of my monday funk. But! I still needed ice cream. Homemade ice cream. Homemade Caramel Apple Ice Cream. Who doesn’t need Homemade Caramel Apple Ice Cream?

By the way, don’t trust anyone who tells you they don’t like ice cream–it’s just not natural.

And yeah, it’s getting chilly out, but I could eat ice cream in the middle of a blizzard. I have braved snow storms for frozen yogurt, chocolate malts, and ice cream sandwiches. But this winter I won’t have to. I have done something terrible… I have bought an ice cream maker.

Cue the scary Halloween music.

Even worse, I bought it with David Lebovitz’sThe Perfect Scoop, and it’s filled with a ton of AMAZING recipes, including all kinds of fall & winter inspired deliciousness. Really, I want to make everything. But I started with Caramel Apple Ice Cream. You were wondering what I was doing with all those apples from the family trip to the orchard, weren’t you? Well, um… here’s what I did with two of them…

Caramel Apple Ice Cream

Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Pear-Caramel Ice Cream in The Perfect Scoop

This recipe has a rich fruit flavor. The caramel adds depth, but it’s not like a traditional caramel apple. For that I think some sort of caramel sauce would need to be involved. But this recipe showcases the apples perfectly. Make sure you give the mixture a good blending to smooth any apple bits.

2 large apples, peeled and cored (I used JonaGolds)
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Chop your apples into small, 1/4” pieces and set aside.

Spread the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat. The sugar will start to liquify and brown. Gently stir the mixture to melt all of the sugar and heat to a deep amber. Constantly stirring at this point to keep the caramel from seizing, stir in the apple. Cook for 10 minutes. If you have any hard pieces of caramel, don’t worry, we’ll strain them out later.

Remove the caramel apple mixture from the heat and stir in the cream. Mix in the pinch of salt and squeeze in a bit of lemon.

Let the mixture cool, and then puree in a blender or food processor. Pour through a strainer to remove any pieces of caramel or apple. Chill mixture in the fridge, and then process using your ice cream machine.

Now time to watch Ghostbusters…