No Churn Coconut and Ginger Ice Cream

Football madness is abound at the moment. The England vs Croatia match is on as I type and I have half an eye on it, half an eye on the baby monitor. I don't recognise any of the English team anymore apart from the coach which is making me feel extremely old but they seem to be doing a decent job and among my friends back home there is a simmering excitement that this year it may not be the disappointment that it usually is....for now anyway.....

Now that the football speculation is out the way I can crack on. The weather here has cooled off a bit but last week whilst it was still toasty the last thing I wanted to do was bake but my sweet tooth was craving something. In all our time together one thing that my husband and I have never been gifted or invested in is an ice cream maker. We both love ice cream but making our own has never really been a priority when a trip to the freezer isle gives you such a choice. In our current apartment we also have, in my opinion, the best ice cream place in Amsterdam, Monte Pelmo Ijs, 5 minutes walk away. I would quite happily only eat their pistachio ice cream and be a very happy lady. However with the move looming and the list of things that we need to buy growing I thought it would be prudent to save a few pennies on our treats and try my hand at making some ice cream.

I think the thing that has always put me off making ice cream is the fact that without an ice cream maker you sign yourself up for tending to your ice cream, stirring it at regular intervals to stop ice crystals forming, until it is fully frozen. I've made sorbets - I make a delicious lychee and lime sorbet - but it is not such a problem if you have a few icy lumps in there. Then I came across a recipe for a no churn vanilla ice cream with only 3 ingredients that seemed too good to be true. The secret ingredient is condensed milk ,which through some wizardry, stops bothersome ice crystals forming. It also means that you don't go through the faff of making a custard like many traditional recipes call for.

If you read my last post you know that we nearly always have a can of condensed milk in just in case an iced coffee mood takes us and the two other ingredients in the recipe were double cream and vanilla essence. I like vanilla ice cream but it's a bit 'vanilla' for me and I fancied something a little more exciting. One thing that I've had sat in my cupboard for a little while was a can of condensed coconut milk which I bought excitedly as I had never seen it before but didn't have a recipe in mind for it. Brain wave! I would use the condensed coconut milk in place of the regular condensed milk and have coconut ice cream!! The next thing I spotted was the jar of stem ginger in syrup sat next to it and everything fell into place. Stem ginger is one of those ingredients that works equally well in sweet or savoury. It's great chopped up and thrown in scones, which was a favourite recipe during my time at Quilliam Brothers Teahouse in Newcastle, but it can also be put in marinade with soy and chilli to make a sweet sticky glaze for chicken or salmon.

This recipe has only 5 ingredients but 3 of them are coconut in various forms. The condensed coconut milk is just like regular condensed milk with the added bonus that it is vegan. It is sweet and creamy and it is hard to resist just eating it straight from the tin. Creamed coconut, which if you are not familiar with comes in a solid block. It is very similar to coconut butter but about a third of the price and versatile - you can grate and dissolve in water to make coconut milk or melt by itself for use in curries or raw desserts. Lastly it has toasted desiccated coconut which adds texture and a different dimension to the coconut flavour. With all the creamy coconut the stem ginger just adds a little bit of sweet heat. It's a total match made in heaven!
Please note if you struggle to find the condensed coconut milk don't worry just use regular condensed milk. The quantities of cream and condensed milk can be used as a basis for just about any flavour of ice cream you want. Try this one first (obviously!) and then let your imagination go wild!!

NO CHURN COCONUT AND GINGER ICE CREAM

Ingredients

600ml Double Cream
200g Condensed Coconut Milk
50g Creamed Coconut, finely grated
5 Balls of Stem Ginger, roughly chopped
2-3 tbsp Desiccated Coconut

• Place the desiccated coconut in a frying pan and toast over a medium heat until it is golden brown. Keep an eye on it and toss it regularly to prevent it catching. Tip onto a plate and allow to cool.
• Put the cream, condensed milk and grated creamed coconut into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat until thick and stiff.
• Scatter over the roughly chopped stem ginger and fold through. Pour the mixture into a large plastic container and smooth the surface.
• Sprinkle over the toasted desiccated coconut. Place the lid on the container and freeze until solid.

For more images of my cooking adventures follow me on Instagram @cooknoevilchef