coolio

Vancouver is in the middle of a heat wave and I couldn't be happier. For some crazy reason, even though the temperature is climbing, we haven't needed to turn on a fan. Our apartment seems to exist in some crazy netherworld of cool. Not that I'm complaining one bit. It doesn't hurt that we've got a few pints of homemade ice cream in our freezer too.

For the Canada Day long weekend, Cornelius and I decided to pull out our ancient (but oh-so-pretty!) teal-coloured Sears ice cream maker out of storage and put it to good use. Wanting to rival our favorite gelato at our neighbourhood shop, I decided to make a coconut chocolate chunk ice cream and just to be on the safe side, we also made a mexican chocolate version. Actually, my mexican chocolate version started out being only cinnamon-flavoured, but when I told Cornelius I was making cinnamon ice cream, he balked. I gave in to pressure and turned the cinnamon into something pretty special. 2 different kinds of hand churned ice cream? Oh yeah.


coconut chocolate chunk
3/4 c shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 c sugar
3 eggs
1 t cornstarch
1/4 t salt
1 c half and half
1 1/2 c unsweetened coconut milk
1 c heavy cream
2 t vanilla
1/2 bar of dark chocolate rittersport, chopped

1. Take 1/2 c of the coconut and toast in a small cast iron pan until it turns golden. Set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs. Add in cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium sized pot, heat the half and half with the coconut milk over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Slowly beat the hot liquid into the sugar/egg mixture, then pour the entire mixture back into the pot and place on low heat. Stir constantly until mixture thickens. Be careful not to let it boil or you'll end up with an egg scramble. Remove from heat and strain into a large bowl. Cool slightly and then add in the toasted coconut, the remaining untoasted coconut, cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Take the cooled mixture and pour it into your ice cream maker and start churning. Add in the chocolate chunks when the ice cream becomes semi-frozen. Keep churning until it gets very hard and then it's all done. Pour into containers and freeze.


mexican chocolate ice cream
3 c half and half
2/3 c sugar
1 egg
1 t cornstarch
1/4 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon, heaping
2 T dark cocoa
1/8 - 1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/2 bar of dark chocolate rittersport, chopped

1. Heat cream in a large pot over medium heat until hot, but not boiling. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon and cayenne.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix egg and cornstarch together. Slowly pour hot liquid into egg mixture, whisking to make sure the eggs don't scramble. Pour back into pot and gently heat until the mixture thickens somewhat. Cool to room temperature and then cover and place in fridge overnight.

3. Take the cooled mixture and pour it into your ice cream maker and start churning. Add in the chocolate chunks when the ice cream becomes semi-frozen. Keep churning until it gets very hard and then it's all done. Pour into containers and freeze.