Sublime Banana Ice Cream
Makes: About 3½ cups/0.8 liter
I didn’t appreciate the presence of banana in ice cream until I fell in love with this recipe from Dana Cree’s ice cream book Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream. The technique of infusing the banana into the base gives the most blissful flavor to this dense and creamy ice cream. Dana generously gave me permission to offer it in this book. It’s well worth taking the time to allow the bananas to get really ripe and also to infuse them in the dairy for a full 24 hours.
Plan Ahead The banana flavor will be best the longer the milk mixture infuses, up to 24 hours.
Ice Cream Base
| 3 large or 4 medium very ripe bananas (see Scoops), about 510 grams before peeling | about 400 grams peeled | |
| milk | 403 grams | 1⅔ cups (394 ml) |
| heavy cream | 309 grams | 1⅓ cups (315 ml) |
| sugar | 150 grams | ¾ cup |
| glucose or reduced corn syrup | 53 grams | 2½ tablespoons (37.5 ml) |
| cornstarch | 12 grams | 4 teaspoons |
| milk | 30 grams | 2 tablespoons (30 ml) |
| 5 (to 8) large egg yolks | 93 grams | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (89 ml) |
| pure vanilla extract | . | 1 teaspoon (5 ml) |
| fine sea salt | . | a big pinch |
1) Into a 2 quart/2 liter bowl, peel and place the bananas.
2) In a medium saucepan, with a silicone spatula, stir together the 403 grams/1⅔ cups/394 ml of milk, the cream, sugar, and glucose until well blended. Over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a full boil. Pour it over the bananas and allow them to infuse for about 1 hour. Then cover them and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. (The longer they infuse, the more intense the banana flavor.)
* Have ready a fine-mesh strainer suspended over a medium saucepan.
* Prepare an ice water bath (see instructions).
3) Stir the milk mixture to wash any butterfat from the dairy that clings to the bananas back into the mixture. Empty the mixture into the strainer. Discard the bananas, then rinse and dry the strainer. Set the strainer back over the bowl.
4) In a custard cup or small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and the 30 grams/2 tablespoons/30 ml of milk until smooth, adding the milk slowly as you mix it in. Cover with plastic wrap.
5) In a small bowl, place the egg yolks and whisk them lightly. Set it near the cooktop.
6) Over medium heat, bring the milk mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and cook at a slow boil for 2 to 3 minutes to evaporate some of the water in the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes, to about 180°F/82°C.
7) Stir the cornstarch mixture to make sure that it is smooth and then whisk it into the hot mixture. Return the pan to the heat and bring the mixture to a slow boil. Cook for 1 minute, whisking gently. It will thicken slightly.
8) Remove the cornstarch mixture from the heat and gradually whisk about ½ cup/118 ml of the mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Then use a whisk to stir the egg yolk mixture back into the pot. Check the temperature. If an instant-read thermometer reads 170°F/77°C, there is no need to heat it further. If it is lower, heat the mixture on low, stirring constantly, until thickened a little further. When a finger is run across the back of the spatula, it will leave a well-defined track. An instant-read thermometer should read 170° to 180°F/77° to 82°C.
9) Immediately pour the mixture into the strainer, scraping up the thickened mixture that has settled on the bottom of the pan. Press it through the strainer and scrape any mixture clinging to the underside into the bowl.
10) Set the bowl in the ice water bath and allow it to cool until no longer warm to the touch, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours or until no warmer than 43°F/6°C. (Alternatively, continue cooling it in the ice water bath.) Set a covered storage container in the freezer.
11) Churn the banana custard in a prechilled ice cream maker. Transfer the ice cream to the chilled container. Press a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream, cover the container, and allow the ice cream to firm in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.
Store
Covered storage container: frozen, 3 days
Scoops
* For the best flavor, use bananas that have ripened to mostly black.