Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

We made Mr. Clever Mom some Toasted Coconut Ice Cream for Father's Day!  This is part of the clever girl's and my summer initiative to become ice cream pros.  Thus far we have had good success, with an amazing chocolate ice cream for the clever girl's birthday.  Since Mr. Clever Mom loves coconut desserts (see coconut cream pie and coconut cake for more options), we decided to try Toasted Coconut Ice Cream.

Yum.  Again, success.  Honestly, I think this is solely due to the fact that I am using David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop, wherein he describes the ice cream process in detail.  The toasted coconut flavor is perfect - not too much, just right, just like Baby Bear's porridge in Goldilocks!  You toast the coconut and then let warm milk and cream steep with the coconut and vanilla beans for a while, to really get as much flavor as you can.  Then you toss the coconut bits, so the ice cream is still perfectly creamy.  Mmmm.

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
big pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 teaspoon rum

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spread the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently.  When it is golden brown and smells incredible, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool.

Warm the milk, 1 cup of the heavy cream, sugar, salt and coconut in a medium saucepan.  Once it is warm and steamy, remove the pan from the heat.  Use a small paring knife to scrape the vanilla beans from the pod and into the saucepan, and put the pod in as well.  Cover and allow to steep for at least one hour at room temperature.

Re-warm the coconut/milk mixture.  Strain the coconut/milk mixture through a mesh strainer set over another medium saucepan.  Press on the coconut with a rubber spatula to extract as much of the flavor as possible.  Remove the vanilla bean pod, rinse and save for another purpose (like adding them to your sugar bowl for vanilla sugar!)  Discard the coconut.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into a large bowl and set the empty (rinsed) mesh strainer over the bowl.  Whisk the egg  yolks in a separate bowl.  Using a ladle, slowly pour the warm coconut-infused mixture into the egg yolks, whisking briskly the entire time.  Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and return to the stove. 

Warm the custard mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until the custard is thick and leaves a line on the spatula when you wipe it with a finger.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the remaining cream.  Stir in the vanilla extract or rum.  Set this bowl in an ice bath  and stir until cool. 

Chill overnight in the refrigerator and then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the maker's instructions. 
Printable Recipe

I wonder, instead of throwing away the soaked coconut, if I could dry it out in the oven again and use it to sprinkle over the ice cream when serving??  Maybe something to try next time! 

Another success on our ice cream journey.  What should we try next??