Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

I'm not quite sure why I wanted to make this ice cream a week or so ago. I think I might have thought of it while Scott and I were swimming laps at the pool, but I can't be sure. Desserts are the perfect thing to think about while you're swimming back and forth, and back and forth, and can't be bothered to count how many laps you've done.

 

We were just parking the car at home when I told Scott that I wanted to fold chunks of frozen banana into chocolate ice cream, and he said, "You know what you really should do? You should add some banana liqueur to it." You might just have seen Scott's picture next to "ice cream genius" in the dictionary at that moment.

The liqueur really brings the ice cream to a whole new level, but you'll have to see for yourself because the only traveling this ice cream is doing is from the freezer, to my bowl, to my spoon, to my mouth. 

Notes:
You can freeze the banana pieces in advance; just make sure to put them in a bag or container after they are all individually frozen so they don't develop frost burn. I used black cocoa powder to increase the intensity of the chocolate flavor of this ice cream. If you don't have black cocoa powder, you can replace it with regular cocoa powder. My "regular" cocoa powder is Natural High Fat Cocoa from Penzeys Spices, and the black cocoa powder is from King Arthur Flour. If you don't have banana liqueur, you can leave it out; it will just be chocolate ice cream with bananas, but don't worry because no one is judging you. I finely chop the chocolate so that it melts quickly. When I start to churn the ice cream, I put the container I'm going to store the ice cream in into the freezer so that it is chilled by the time the ice cream is finished. Depending on where you store the finished ice cream in your freezer, it can become somewhat firm, so just let the ice cream hang out on the counter for a few minutes, and it will become scoopable.

Recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments

Ingredients:
3 medium-sized ripe bananas
2¼ cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons regular cocoa powder, sifted
3 tablespoons black cocoa powder, sifted
¼ teaspoon espresso powder
pinch of salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
6 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons banana liqueur

Prepare the Banana Pieces:
Peel the bananas, cut them into ¼-inch slices, and then cut each slice in half.  Place the pieces on a cookie sheet, making sure that the pieces are not touching, and then place the sheet with the bananas on it in the freezer. If your freezer is too small to accommodate a cookie sheet, use multiple plates instead. Once the banana pieces are frozen, remove them from the cookie sheet, place them in a bag or covered bowl, and store them in the freezer until the ice cream has been churned. Wrap the frozen pieces well if you're not going to use them within a day or so. 

Make the Ice Cream Base:
Place the heavy whipping cream, sifted cocoa powders, espresso powder, salt, and sugar in a medium-sized pan, and bring to a full boil, whisking regularly. Once the mixture is boiling, remove the pan from the heat, and add the finely chopped chocolate to the pan, shaking the pan as needed to make sure all of the chocolate is covered by the hot liquid. Allow the mixture to rest for a few minutes so that the chocolate can begin to melt, and then use a whisk to stir the mixture until all of the chocolate pieces are melted and the mixture is homogenous. Use a spatula to transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and then whisk in the whole milk, vanilla extract, and banana liqueur, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Cover the bowl well, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for several hours or overnight.

Churn, Stir, Freeze, Eat:
Once the mixture is chilled, churn the ice cream base according to the directions that came with your ice cream maker. When the ice cream is fully churned, stir in the frozen banana pieces. If your ice cream maker came with directions on how to add "extras" to your ice cream, you can follow those directions. The goal is to end up with true banana pieces in the ice cream and not banana mush, so add the frozen pieces when it seems appropriate. Transfer the ice cream to the container you're storing it in, press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface, top with a lid, and freeze until firm. Pin It