Bananas Foster Ice Cream

As two feet of snow piled up and more continued to fall, this girl was making ice cream. It doesn’t matter that it’s winter and there was a blizzard happening, ice cream is more important. Because during these winter days that I just really, really, don’t like, ice cream makes me happy.

When it’s snowing and cold outside, there really is nothing more comforting and warming then the smell of brown sugar and bananas cooking. It was so hard not to eat the entire bowl of mashed bananas foster before using them in the base, because they were just so good on their own. I could’ve simply topped the bananas foster mush with vanilla ice cream and been just as satisfied, but of course they were meant to be made into delicious ice cream. Winter ice cream flavors tend to be classics, like vanilla, salted caramel, or endless concoctions of chocolate and candy. Refreshing fruits are hard to come by, and summer like flavors can be difficult to achieve. But then there are bananas. An often forgotten tropical fruit, it’s perfect for making comforting winter banana bread but also perfect churned into ice cream during this cold season too. A bananas foster flavored ice cream has been on my to do list for quite some time now, but for some reason I’ve pushed it aside, making room for other distinct seasonal flavors. Traditionally bananas foster uses butter to make the decadent thick sauce, but there isn’t a need for it here. The brown sugar and rum are what give the mashed bananas its iconic foster flavor. If you can let your bananas ripen fully, like until their skins are black, do so. I didn’t because I wasn’t waiting any longer to make this ice cream, and it didn’t matter, there is no denying this is a banana ice cream. For a more intense banana flavor, feel free to add banana liqueur, but that’s if you can find reasons to use it up after. I enjoy bananas and flavored desserts, but I simply can’t stand banana liqueur. Rum still lingering from Jamaica is all I wanted in my bananas foster. Good rum is pure magic in ice cream. So use your good stuff, please.

The final piece of heaven for this ice cream, candied walnuts. I debated whether I wanted to stir in a few pieces once churned, but enjoyed the ice cream plain. Yet, topping the ice cream with the candied walnuts at the end was a must. The rich and warm flavors of the bananas foster and walnuts, just come together beautifully. This ice cream flavor is perfect for winter. And since bananas are best eaten all year long, so is this bananas foster ice cream.

Ingredients {Makes 1 Quart}

2 medium {very ripe} – Bananas {peeled}

1 teaspoon – Ground Cinnamon

1/2 cup – Brown Sugar {packed}

5 large – Egg Yolks

1 3/4 cups – Heavy Cream

3/4 cup – Milk {preferably 2%}

1/4 teaspoon – Salt

2 tablespoons – Dark Rum {or 1 tablespoon Dark rum + 1 tablespoon Banana Liqueur}

1 teaspoon – Pure Vanilla Extract

Candied Walnut Topping, optional {recipe here}

Recipe {Adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones}

For the base, stir the cream, milk and salt in a heavy saucepan, cooking over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium. In meantime, a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up a bit.

Slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the yolk mixture, while whisking constantly. Add one more ladle of the hot mixture to the yolks, making sure to whisk quickly, as to not curdle the eggs. Stir the cream mixture as you slowly add in the egg-cream mixture to the saucepan with a heat-proof spatula.

Cook the ice cream base over medium heat, stirring frequently until it has thickened, {about 1 to 2 minutes}. The mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon, holding a clear path when you run your finger across it.

Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container, over an ice-water bath. With a clean spatula, stir the base frequently until its has cooled to room temperature. Remove from the ice-water bath, cover top directly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the banana foster base, combine the bananas, cinnamon and brown sugar in a medium skillet, and mash them with a fork until a liquid paste forms. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until slightly reduced and dark golden brown {about 5 to 7 minutes}. Remove from heat and stir in one tablespoon of the rum.

Let the banana mixture cool slightly, then pulse in a blender, food processor or with an emersion blender, until smooth but with a few chunky pieces of banana. Set aside.

To freeze, stir in the remaining tablespoon of rum, vanilla extract and bananas foster filling to the base, until well combined. Freeze base in your ice cream machine according to the manufactures’ directions. In the meantime, place the container you’ll be using in the freezer. Top with candied walnuts, if using. Enjoy right away, or freeze at least 4 hours for a harder consistency.