Creamy, Home-made Coconut Ice-cream (Without the Ice-cream maker!)

*Accchhooooo!*

Hey guys!

So apparently, hearing and seeing friends and family enjoying the peak of summer back home in India, I guess I got a bit carried away with the summery mood. I plunged into Iced-teas, Mocktails, Ice-water and Ice-creams, totally forgetting that the weather is not as hot here in Ireland yet. The result- I am down with cough and cold. *sniff sniff*

The reason why I probably got a bad throat in the first place was because the night before yesterday, I had a heaped bowlful of my first ever home-made ice-cream! Seeing everyone making yummy Ice-creams and Popsicles to meet the summer beat around the world, I too was itching to make ice-cream at home.

Now, I usually am a Choco-chip or a Mango ice-cream kind of a gal but there’s one ice-cream flavor that I was craving for, from a very long time. I don’t know if you have ever tried a Coconut flavored ice-cream at Naturals in India, but if you get a chance, please try it! I had it once at my aunt’s place in Mumbai and still remember how utterly delicious that was. Couple of years later, Naturals opened its franchise in my home town Indore, but sadly the Coconut ice-cream there was just not the same.

Therefore, this time I set off to replicate that yummy Coconut ice-cream at home. I don’t own an ice-cream maker and I know that even if I buy one, it will never be fully utilized in our house. Hubby is not a big fan of desserts and I am asthmatic. Also, weather here is Ireland is almost always cold and rainy. So, we do not indulge in cold desserts that much. Just an occasional cone at the mall and that’s it.

So, I hunted for days, a recipe to make ice-cream without the ice-cream maker.

Combining bits and pieces from various recipes on the internet and crossing all my fingers and toes, I  excitedly began the process. The result was the perfect, smooth and creamy Coconut ice-cream. It was super-easy and very close to the taste that I aspired for. Well, after that I probably had too much and that landed me in trouble, sigh!

Anyway, I have shared some essential points in the *Notes below the recipe. Do give them a read if you decide to make this yummy treat.

Give this recipe a go folks, and take good care of yourselves! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

– 3/4th cup of Coconut cream

– 1 cup Whipped Cream

– 3/4 cup Coconut Water

– 3/4 cup light Condensed Milk

– Chocolate syrup or toppings of your choice (optional)

Method: 

– Store all the mandatory ingredients in your refrigerator one night before, as we need them chilled when we make our ice-cream. This helps prevent the formation of ice crystals in the ice-cream during freezing. 

– In a large bowl, beat the whipped cream well with a whisk or an electric beater, until you get soft peaks.

– Add your condensed milk to the cream, and again beat well until you get soft peaks. Set aside.

– In a blender, blend together your Coconut cream and half your Coconut water to a smooth mixture.

– Add the blended mixture to your cream & condensed milk batter and fold till well-combined.

– Add your remaining Coconut water to the mixture and give it a final stir.

– Pour in an airtight, freezer-safe container and keep to freeze.

– After two hours, take out your ice-cream and blend it again.

– Pour back in the container and freeze for atleast 6 hours.

– Enjoy the creamy and delicious ice-cream with your favorite toppings, or as it is!

*Notes-

– As we do not get tender Coconuts where we live, I have used the Coconut cream as the base of my ice-cream (brand- Blue Dragon). You can easily substitute it with flesh of 4 tender Coconuts. Tender coconuts are the ones with a green shell. Don’t use brown Coconuts for your ice-cream!

– As the cream is rich and strong-flavored enough, I used only Coconut water in this recipe. If you use fresh Coconut flesh instead, substitute the Coconut water with Coconut milk, to get a richer and creamier ice-cream. You can also use half & half of the Coconut water and Coconut milk. I think that using only Coconut water with fresh tender Coconuts flesh will make the ice-cream icy instead of creamy-textured.

– As the condensed milk is sweet enough, I didn’t feel the need of using sugar at all. To increase the sweetness, you can add sugar or simply increase the quantity of the condensed milk.