Coconut Ice Cream

This is my first summer living in Virginia, and it’s much hotter than I ever expected.  After living in Florida for two years, I thought summers in Virginia would be easy.  I could not have been more wrong.  July was a record-breaking month for high temperatures here in Virginia.  What better way to cool down than with homemade ice cream?

This ice cream is pure coconut bliss.  It doesn’t require making a custard, so you can have it in the ice cream maker in next to no time.  It’s not quite as creamy as custard-based ice creams, but it’s still incredibly delicious (and you get to eat it sooner).  If you have some available, adding a splash of rum (or other alcohol) will help to prevent the ice cream from becoming too icy.  The original recipe called for a 14 ounce can of cream of coconut.  This was far too sweet for my tastes, so I’ve cut it down to 1 cup.  You can always taste the mixture and add more cream of coconut if you want it sweeter.

There are several ways you could change up this ice cream, too.  For this batch, I mixed in coconut M&Ms.  This ice cream also tastes fantastic with finely chopped dark chocolate mixed in, sort of like a Mounds bar.  If you wanted to go the route of Almond Joy, just add some sliced almonds along with your dark chocolate.  For a more tropical flavor, add crushed pineapple and toasted coconut.  This ice cream will be a cool, refreshing treat no matter what you decide to mix in.

Coconut Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 to 1 1/2 cups cream of coconut
splash of coconut rum or other alcohol
Optional mix-ins:
toasted coconut
crushed pineapple
finely chopped chocolate
sliced almonds

Directions:
-Thoroughly whisk together coconut milk, heavy cream, cream of coconut and coconut rum, if using.
-Cover mixture and place in refrigerator until well chilled.
-Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
-Add mix-ins after removing ice cream from maker, while ice cream is still at soft-serve consistency.

Inspired by this recipe from All Recipes