First things first: I know that the coconut in the above photo looks not toasted, but burnt. That’s because it is. See, I put the coconut in a pan on the stove and turned around to dish out the ice cream. I didn’t expect the coconut to toast as quickly as it did. But it did. Hence, the slightly burnt, yet still delicious, coconut flakes.
OK, moving on. Cardamom ice cream. I love it. I think it might be my favorite flavor of ice cream. It’s got the floral notes I love in lavender, but it also has a citrus-y, ginger-y, spice-y thing going on as well. Making it is simple, too. While it’s true, you can make it exceptionally rich as a custard, I prefer to leave out the eggs and just make a simple ice cream, bringing the milk, cream and sugar to a boil and immediately shutting off the heat. When made this way, it’s a good foil for a fancy and impressive dessert. I served it to guests after Easter dinner with toasted pound cake. Today, I polished off the leftovers while watching the Cubs game on TV.
Cardamom Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 cups cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2-1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp vanilla
8 whole cardamom pods, crushed
In a medium saucepan, stir the vanilla, cream, sugar and milk together and bring to a boil. Add the cardamom pods and cover, allowing to steep for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup and stir in the ground cardamom. Chill in the refrigerator until very cold.
Follow the directions on your ice cream machine. If you don’t have one, now is the perfect time to get one. Because summer will be here so very soon, and if you are like me, you will soon be subsisting on a diet of sorbets, frozen yogurt and ice cream. I use this one and keep the bowl in the freezer all the time.
Here’s the second best thing about serving this ice cream with toasted coconut: if you sprinkle the coconut flakes directly from the pan you’ve toasted them in, they sizzle when they hit the ice cream (the first best thing is how it tastes, obviously).
Wait, you finished it off? I guess it’s time for me to take a stab at this recipe…