Bananana. Doo doo - doo doo doo
Oct. 19th, 2025 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Banana (Nut) Ice Cream.
"A banana is like a candy bar made for you by trees. But honestly, this fruit is downright weird."
4 medium or 3 large bananas, extremely ripe*
28 oz half-and-half
1 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
4 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup or so walnuts
Put the dairy and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, and place the pan over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking occasionally to discourage the milk from scorching, until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat.
Peel the bananas and place the fruit in a heatproof container. Pour the hot dairy over the bananas, and transfer the container to the fridge. Infuse for 2-24 hours. The longer you let this infusion sit, the better the flavor will be - 2 hours impart a lovely light flavor; 24 hours gives you maximum banana.
Stir the dairy mixture to wash any fat clinging to the bananas back into the dairy. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the bananas. (Infusing sidesteps the inconsistent, starchy, acidic pudding of a fruit that can cause starchy ice cream.)
Mix the cornstarch and cold milk. Place the infused dairy in a clean pot over medium-high heat. Cook until the liquid comes to a full rolling boil. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the pot and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add 1/2 cup of the hot dairy mixture to the yolks while whisking to prevent scrambling. Pour the tempered yolks back into the pot of hot milk while whisking. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping constantly with a rubber spatula to avoid curdling.
When the mixture reaches 150° F, remove the pan from the heat and nest in a large bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it cools down to 50° or below. Remove from the water bath and whisk in the salt and vanilla. Transfer to the fridge to cure for 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
The next day, churn according to ice cream maker instructions. Transfer to a container, (in thirds, adding a layer of nuts in between each, and then swirling to distribute), cover with plastic wrap and seal up, and freeze for 4-12 hours to harden up.
What worked: This had excellent banana flavor. Removing the infused bananas from the dairy was as easy as promised. As always, the texture is close to professional-grade. The walnuts made me think of a banana nut muffin (not in a bad way).
What didn't: I had a vague hope to approximate Bananas Foster with a dash of rum over the top, but it would have needed some caramel or candied pecans instead of walnuts. That's not the recipe's fault though.
Will I make it again? Sure, when I want banana ice cream. The infusing is also a good technique to remember if I want to make a banana crème pat layer in a chocolate cake.
"A banana is like a candy bar made for you by trees. But honestly, this fruit is downright weird."
4 medium or 3 large bananas, extremely ripe*
28 oz half-and-half
1 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
4 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup or so walnuts
* "I plan ahead for this ice cream, wrapping a bunch of bananas in plastic wrap and leaving them in a warm spot in my kitchen for a week. The calcium in the milk firms up the squishy black bananas, making them a snap to remove."
Put the dairy and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, and place the pan over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking occasionally to discourage the milk from scorching, until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat.
Peel the bananas and place the fruit in a heatproof container. Pour the hot dairy over the bananas, and transfer the container to the fridge. Infuse for 2-24 hours. The longer you let this infusion sit, the better the flavor will be - 2 hours impart a lovely light flavor; 24 hours gives you maximum banana.
Stir the dairy mixture to wash any fat clinging to the bananas back into the dairy. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the bananas. (Infusing sidesteps the inconsistent, starchy, acidic pudding of a fruit that can cause starchy ice cream.)
Mix the cornstarch and cold milk. Place the infused dairy in a clean pot over medium-high heat. Cook until the liquid comes to a full rolling boil. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the pot and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add 1/2 cup of the hot dairy mixture to the yolks while whisking to prevent scrambling. Pour the tempered yolks back into the pot of hot milk while whisking. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping constantly with a rubber spatula to avoid curdling.
When the mixture reaches 150° F, remove the pan from the heat and nest in a large bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it cools down to 50° or below. Remove from the water bath and whisk in the salt and vanilla. Transfer to the fridge to cure for 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
The next day, churn according to ice cream maker instructions. Transfer to a container, (in thirds, adding a layer of nuts in between each, and then swirling to distribute), cover with plastic wrap and seal up, and freeze for 4-12 hours to harden up.
What worked: This had excellent banana flavor. Removing the infused bananas from the dairy was as easy as promised. As always, the texture is close to professional-grade. The walnuts made me think of a banana nut muffin (not in a bad way).
What didn't: I had a vague hope to approximate Bananas Foster with a dash of rum over the top, but it would have needed some caramel or candied pecans instead of walnuts. That's not the recipe's fault though.
Will I make it again? Sure, when I want banana ice cream. The infusing is also a good technique to remember if I want to make a banana crème pat layer in a chocolate cake.
