Best way to stay cool this Summer ?....Ice Cream !

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Looks familiar to you ?

So many bananas suffer the same fate in my home, something had to be done ! Here comes Cuisineart ICE-20 to the rescue, my faithful ice-cream maker sidekick. It comes with a chilling container (mine stays in the freeze all the time, ready to use) and conditions the cream in 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons Kahlua liquor
1.5 cup half and half
1.5 cup milk (used fat free milk here)
3 ripe bananas

Directions:

1. Beat the yolks and the sugar in a frothy mixture, then add the vanilla flavor.


2. Bring the mixture of milk and half and half to a boil while stirring, then take it off the stove


3. Add a few tablespoons of the hot milk to the egg/sugar, mix it, then add the rest of the milk slowly while stirring (you want to avoid a thermic shock or the yolks will curl, hence the few tablespoons as primer).


4. Cook the resulting cream on slow heat until a spoon dipped in it is left with an even coat, your cream is now ready.


5. Cool the cream


6. Mash the bananas (I use a fork, they are so ripe its very easy) and whip the puree into the cream


7. Add the Kahlua (how much is really up to you ! But remember that too much alcohol will lower the freezing point of the ice cream)


8. Place the banana cream into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions.

I prepared mine after dinner, it was ready the next day for lunch.


With 3 bananas, the flavor is quite intense. I found that the Kahlua blended nicely and reinforced the banana flavor. This recipe makes a very smooth texture thanks to the eggs, yet tiny pieces of banana break the surface here and there.