Best Banana Ice Cream
Two summers ago (yes, I’m very late posting this—bad blogger!), my family had an occasion to celebrate—my son-in-law, Greg, earned his MBA and was also recruited for a new job just as he was finishing up his degree. So, the stars were aligned, and it was a great reason to make merry.
My sister hosted the celebration and provided a Bananas Foster cake (from a favorite bakery) that tasted as good as it looked. (Note to self: try to recreate that cake!) When she told me about it beforehand, I decided to make some banana ice cream to go along with it. When you’re in the dog days of August as we were at the time, ice cream is always near the top of the dessert wish list.
I’m an easy mark when I see the word “best” or “favorite” in a recipe title. Any recipe with those words in the title inevitably makes it to my must-try list. And so it was with this recipe for banana ice cream. To be honest, I’d never had banana ice cream before, so I couldn’t wait to make it. Even though I don’t have anything to compare it with, after tasting it, I can see why the word “best” worked its way into the title. I made sure to use very ripe bananas to give it a robust banana flavor. After tasting the custard, I wasn’t the slightest bit tempted to add banana extract to it to further enhance it as I thought it was just perfect the way it was.
I always taste any ice cream I make immediately after churning and before freezing. The consistency at that point is similar to soft serve, but it’s really dangerous because your spoon just glides so easily through the creamy confection. One taste and I was rapturous! Then, throwing all caution to the wind, I mixed in some semisweet chocolate chips and chopped walnuts into my bowl—instant Chunky Monkey! Oh my…
Be sure to read my notes below. This recipe makes a rather large volume of ice cream—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—but be forewarned!
Best Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 cups half-and-half cream
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- Dash salt
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
- 1 tbl. vanilla extract
- 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (5 to 6 medium)
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Directions
In a large heavy saucepan, heat half-and-half to 175° F; stir in sugar and salt until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160° F and coats the back of a metal spoon.
Remove from the heat. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl/pan of ice water; stir for 2 minutes.
Stir in the whipping cream, milk and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. As always when making ice cream, also make sure your ice cream maker’s tub has been in the freezer overnight.
Stir in bananas until well blended.
Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to churn. If you make the full recipe, you will most likely have to churn the ice cream in three batches. When ice cream has been churned and is soft serve consistency, transfer to a freezer container; freeze for 2 to 4 hours before serving.
Note: If you have just one ice cream tub for churning, you will have to refreeze the tub for several hours or overnight before you start making the next batch of ice cream.
Fran’s Notes
This recipe makes a LOT of ice cream—easily over a half gallon! It actually worked out for me because had I anticipated making two batches as I needed enough for 10 people. Having said that, the volume was so large that I had to churn it in three batches. The recipe is easily halved (although you’ll have 2½ oz. of evaporated milk left over). Even so, halving it would probably still mean churning two batches of the ice cream depending on the size of your ice cream maker. I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker which has a tub with about a 6-cup capacity. I suspect that making it in a KitchenAid mixer with ice cream attachment would easily work for the half recipe—but still not for the full recipe!
I have two ice cream tubs for my ice cream maker—comes with just one, but I bought a second one just for occasions like this. I have a second fridge in the basement, so I just store them in the freezer down there year-round. So, making two batches for me is simple. If I had just one tub, I’d have to make the ice cream and store it in another container while I washed out the tub to refreeze. You really have to freeze the tub for at least 8 hours or overnight before you churn the ice cream. As I said, I’m always ready to go with two fully frozen tubs at my disposal.
I measured how much custard the full recipe made—10 cups. With the added 2 cups of mashed bananas, it totaled 12 cups volume. Even trying to do it in two batches, the 6 cups was too much for my tub as you need to fill it to just two-thirds capacity to allow for the ice cream to expand as it thickens.
Source: A recipe from Taste of Home