Banana Ice Cream

I found out on Sunday morning that it was National Ice Cream Day.  What?!  I was not prepared for this at all!  I need to be notified, at least a week in advance, so I can celebrate this special day with my family!  I mean, come on!

Now, it being Sunday morning, I'm not just gonna go rush out to the store.  And anyway, homemade is so much better!  I know I live in the land of Blue Bell and all, and it's fine as far as store bought ice cream goes, but NOTHING beats the taste and creaminess of homemade ice cream!

With 2 over-ripe bananas sitting on the counter, begging to be used, I decided on banana ice cream. 

Start by whisking together the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl, till thoroughly combined.

Put the cream and milk into a medium saucepan over a medium low heat.  Bring the cream mixture just to a simmer, don't allow to boil.  Once hot enough, take off the heat.

 While the cream mixture is heating up (you don't have to watch it too closely as long as the heat isn't too high), you'll want to mash the banana.  Here is my favorite kind of masher tool.  It took me years to find one like this.  I finally found it at the dollar store!  Fancy that!

You'll want to temper the egg mixture.  We have to cook the eggs enough that they can be eaten, without scrambling them, so this is a delicate process, but once learned, crazy easy to do.

 Slowly add about a cup of the cream mixture (I use 2 ladles full) to the egg mixture while whisking.  This bring the temperature of the eggs up incrementally.

Then slowly add the egg mixture to the remaining cream mixture (remember the cream mixture is not over the heat at this time), while whisking.

Put the egg/cream mixture back over a low heat, constantly whisking or stirring (we don't want to scald the bottom) until the mixture is steaming. Now your eggs are safe to eat!  Not too bad, huh?

Add the mashed bananas and mix thoroughly.

Before freezing the hot custard must be chilled.  You can just leave in the refrigerator over night, or for a quicker method you can put the bowl in an ice bath in a larger bowl! The place in the fridge. Stir the custard occasionally.

Once completely cold, put the custard in an ice cream machine and churn as directed by the manufacturer.  My machine is a quick 25 minutes.  Either eat right away (it'll be soft!) or place in a container and into the freezer to complete the freezing process.

Such a great treat without artificial flavoring!

This is a basic vanilla ice cream recipe with the addition of bananas.  You can add any flavoring or topping (I'm thinking of adding some green food coloring, peppermint extract, chocolate chips next time!)

Let's eat!


Banana Ice Cream

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas

Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl till light and fluffy.  Heat cream and milk together over a medium, low heat till just simmering, take off of heat.  Slowly add 1 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture while whisking.  Slowly add all of the egg mixture to the cream mixture while whisking.  Chill the custard completely. Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.