Bananas…you either love them or you hate them, right?
Wrong!
Now, I love bananas. For one thing, yellow is one of my very favorite colors, so that’s one point. Next, I love the flavor. While the texture doesn’t exactly make me swoon, I’m fine with it. Philip, on the other hand, loves the flavor of banana-he’s happy to eat a banana Laffy Taffy or a slice of banana bread, for example-but he doesn’t care for the texture at all. Too mushy. He’ll eat them in banana pudding, but I wouldn’t say he likes it.
Back around Thanksgiving I got completely obsessed with Pinterest. I pinned a recipe for banana “ice cream”, which was really just frozen bananas spun in the food processor until they were completely pureed. Pureed frozen bananas interestingly have a consistency very similar to ice cream. There’s even a machine called a “Yonanas“, which can be yours for $49.95 (or more, depending on the model) and churns out frozen fruit in the consistency of ice cream. Wait, didn’t I just say I did that in my food processor? Ahem. Sorry.
Anyway, I was super excited because it was fat-free ice cream. And it was all-natural. Philip, on the other hand, was not so excited. To him, it still had the texture of bananas. I decided to try combining frozen bananas with a custard ice cream base and find out (a) if the flavor of the bananas would still shine against all the cream; and (b) if Philip would like it.
Guess what? It was a success! It was delicious. Fat-free? No…but I’m happy to continue to eat my pureed frozen bananas and reserve this for an occasional treat….that I can share with my husband. And with you!
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Banana Ice Cream
Print recipe| Serves | 8 |
| Prep time | 30 minutes |
| Cook time | 20 minutes |
| Total time | 50 minutes |
| Allergy | Milk |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Dessert |
| Misc | Freezable, Serve Cold |
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cups half-and-half
- 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 2-3 frozen bananas (I left my bananas in the fruit basket until they were nearly frozen, to concentrate the sugars)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Note
This makes a quart of ice cream; serving size assumes 1/2-cup servings.
Prep time includes freezing time; depending on your ice cream maker, this could take slightly longer (my Kitchenaid attachment took 20 minutes).
Directions
| Step 1 | |
| Whisk the eggs yolks in a bowl until they are thickened and light in color. | |
| Step 2 | |
| Combine the half-and-half, the cream, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the mixture is hot and the sugar is completely dissolved. | |
| Step 3 | |
| Temper the eggs by gradually pouring about half a cup of the hot cream/half-and-half mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly. Whisk the mixture back into the saucepan. Continue to cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl with a lid. Refrigerate until completely cooled. | |
| Step 4 | |
| When you are ready to make the ice cream, puree the frozen bananas until smooth. Whisk along with the vanilla extract into the ice cream base until completely incorporated. Pour into your ice cream freezer and freeze according to machine directions. | |
| Step 5 | |
| Pour into a quart-size container and freeze until firm. Serve on its own, topped with chocolate sauce, or with vanilla wafers and whipped cream for "banana pudding" ice cream. | |
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