Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with a Fudge Ripple

When Stephen and I were on our honeymoon in Mexico, the place we were staying at made the best coconut ice cream. Seriously. I've been wanting it ever since. It finally dawned on me that now that I have my KitchenAid attachment, I needed to try to make it. So I went to my favorite ice cream book (The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz) in search of a base recipe and found one. At first I wasn't sure about it. He recommended removing the shredded coconut and that just didn't sit well with me. But I went ahead and followed the recipe, adding and adjusting a few things here and there. The results? Ridiculously good!!! Instead of paring the ice cream with with mango, I opted for a chocolate fudge ripple because in Mexico they topped it with fudge sauce. Oh my, it tasted exactly like it! If you love coconut as much as I do, you have to try this!

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with a Fudge Ripple

Ingredients

1 c. dried shredded coconut, heaping

1 c. whole milk

2 c. heavy cream

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise (I used 1/4 tsp. ground Tahitian vanilla bean powder)

5 large egg yolks

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. coconut extract 

Fudge Ripple

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1/3 c. water

6 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa 

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the coconut across the baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from oven when coconut becomes golden brown in color.

2. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, warm milk, 1 c. heavy cream, sugar and salt. Using a whisk, mix until smooth. When mixture slowly starts to bubble, add coconut. Scrape vanilla seeds into mixture or add powder. Cover and remove from heat. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour (this will build up the flavor- it is an essential step, so don't be tempted to cut the time short).

3. Meanwhile, to make the fudge ripple, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, water, cocoa powder and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture bubbles around the edges. Continue to whisk until it comes to a low boil. Allow it to boil for 1 minutes, then remove from heat. Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, the transfer to a bowl and place into refrigerator to cool completely (it must be chilled throughout so it doesn't melt the ice cream later).

4. After an hour has passed, rewarm the milk and coconut mixture. Set a mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour warmed mixture over top and strain the coconut-infused liquid through the strainer and into the bowl. Press down firmly on coconut, pressing all of the remaining liquid out. Discard the coconut. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat.

4. In the large bowl, pour remaining 1 c. heavy cream in it. Again, place mesh strainer over top.

5. In a separate small bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly add yolks to warmed mixture, whisk until combined. Stir mixture constantly over medium heat. Using a heatproof spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan until the mixture becomes thick and coats the bottom of the spatula (and reaches a temperature of 170 degrees). Remove from heat and pour over the mesh strainer and into the bowl with the remaining cream. Mix in vanilla and coconut extract. Stir over an ice bath until cool, place in refrigerator to cool completely (30 minutes or so).

5. Freeze according to manufacture's instructions. Remove from ice cream maker and layer fudge sauce and ice cream in an air-tight freezer safe container, taking care not to stir the ice cream and fudge. Chill in freezer for 4 hours before serving.

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop- Coconut Ice Cream | Makes approximately 4-6 servings