By Cody is on day four hundred and fifty-nine of his sentence. He finished his sixth workshop piece this week — a short essay about Mr. Garcia at the auto-body shop, drawn from the longer story he wrote in the fall. The Tulsa Library teen writing program for me starts in six weeks. The end of junior year is in seven. I am turning seventeen in nine.
And the recipe Sunday was chai coconut ice cream because the weather hit eighty-two on Wednesday and because Mrs. Henderson lent me her old ice cream maker the same afternoon. The ice cream maker is a small electric model from the 1990s that lives in her basement. She brought it over in a tote bag at three-thirty Wednesday afternoon and said, baby, you are going to need this for the summer. She is right.
The recipe is a Cookie and Kate one. Coconut milk steeped with chai spices — cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper — sweetened with honey, cooled, churned in the ice cream maker for twenty minutes, then frozen for four hours. The result is a spiced creamy non-dairy ice cream that tastes like a Trader Joe’s pint they wish they sold.
The math: two cans of full-fat coconut milk $1.79 each, a half cup of honey from the bottle, the chai spices from the rack (the cardamom from January is now well-used), a teaspoon of vanilla, salt. Total: about $4.20 for a quart of ice cream that fed Mama and me for four small bowls.
The technique is the spice steep and the cool-then-churn. You combine the coconut milk with the spices in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. You bring to a gentle simmer (do not boil) and steep for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. You strain through a fine mesh sieve. You whisk in the honey, vanilla, and salt. You cool completely to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for two hours. You pour the chilled base into the ice cream maker and churn for twenty minutes until the texture is soft-serve-thick. You transfer to a freezer container and freeze for four hours until firm.
Mama said, eating Sunday night, baby, this is the kind of dessert restaurants charge eight dollars a scoop for. The savings envelope is at $545. The summer is going to be the summer of borrowed ice cream makers and homemade pints.
The recipe is below. The trick is the spice steep — do not skip the ten minutes; the spices need the time to release into the coconut milk.
Chai Coconut Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes (includes freezing) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cans (13.5 oz each) full-fat coconut cream, refrigerated overnight
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed coconut milk (or regular sweetened condensed milk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Chill your equipment. Place a large mixing bowl and the beaters from your hand mixer (or the bowl of your stand mixer) in the freezer for 10 minutes before you begin. Cold equipment helps the coconut cream whip up properly.
- Whip the coconut cream. Open the refrigerated cans of coconut cream and scoop out only the thick, solid cream into your chilled bowl, leaving behind any liquid. Beat on medium-high speed for 2—3 minutes until fluffy and soft peaks form.
- Mix in the base. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, allspice, and salt. Gently fold everything together with a rubber spatula until just combined — avoid overmixing so you keep as much air as possible in the cream.
- Pour and smooth. Transfer the mixture into a standard 9x5 inch loaf pan. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming.
- Freeze. Place the pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight, until completely firm throughout.
- Scoop and serve. Remove the pan from the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping. Serve in bowls or cones. Sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon or a drizzle of honey if you like.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 280 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 20g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 55mg