Coconut Ice Cream

Memories are funny things. You may remember something completely random and unrelated to anything at a certain point. On the other hand, you may completely and utterly forget the name of your new neighbour. Then again, you might recall with perfect clarity the exact clothes you were wearing for your first interview. And forget what the heck you wore yesterday. Yes, memories are funny things indeed.

I was thinking about England a few weeks ago. I was trying to see if I could remember Hoylake, where we were living before we moved here. As it turns out, I remember quite a few things. But I also realised that my memories of Hoylake were fading, and it was as if I was viewing things through a bit of a foggy filter. I can remember names and places. For example, Julian from Julian's Restaurant, or Nick (the Arsenal fan!!) the owner of Flavours, and his son Justin (the Aston Villa fan!!). Chok, the head waiter at the Golden Orchid, who always took Aditi on a tour of the kitchens as soon as she arrived, while Kay and I enjoyed a leisurely Thai meal.

Oh, and 'Chocolate' Tom Sargeant from Sargeant's Chocolates. When my husband went to buy chocolates for me after I'd just given birth to Aditi, he said to Tom, 'you know my wife, of course, she's here every day!' To which Tom replied 'I cannot confirm or deny that sir, its a breach of client-chocolatier confidentiality' hehe. T'was a sad day indeed when he had to close down the chocolate shop and become a driving instructor instead.

I remember old Pat, who always had a pat for Aditi, yet could never remember that she was a girl, not a boy. And the myriad characters that made up the little village we lived in. I was thinking about all of them, trying to remember names and places, trying to preserve the memories, when I suddenly thought of an ice cream that I'd never been able to forget (yep, all memories lead to ice cream in my life :))

If you live in the North West of England, you've likely had Cheshire Farms ice cream. If you haven't, what the heck are you waiting for? Go grab some NOW. Yes, NOW! You can read the rest of this post later. GO. NOW!

Chocolate Tom sold this ice cream in his shop, as did the Carr Farms Garden Centre. Yeah, guess where I could be found most often then? Haha. I loved all their ice creams (and indeed, ate all of them too!) but the standout flavour for me was the coconut ice cream that I always had at the Golden Orchid, after a delicious Thai meal.

When Kathryn asked me for a recipe for coconut ice cream for a class, I knew immediatley that I would have to try and recreate the taste of the Cheshire Farms version. I started from scratch with this recipe. The egg based ice cream that I started off with was delicious, incredibly rich and creamy, but I felt that the coconut flavour in it was quite subdued. So I tried using cornstarch to thicken the ice cream instead. The trick, I guess, was the use of the coconut extract. It added that coconutty fragrance that seemed to be the one thing I always missed from the ice creams I'd made.

I played with adding dessicated toasted coconut to the ice cream, but both Kay and I didn't like the sandy texture of it, so I decided to leave it out of the finished dish.

The finished ice cream was so good! It had a very distinct coconut flavour, and most importantly tasted very very similar to the Cheshire Farms ice cream. So until they decide to start exporting to Canada (hurry up, guys!!), at least I have their coconut ice cream sussed :)

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup half and half + 3 tablespoons extra (10% cream)
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon coconut extract

400 ml can of coconut milk

Method:

Place the 1 cup half and half and the sugar in a heavy saucepan. Slake the cornstarch in the 3 tbsp extra half anf half cream, then add it to the pan.

Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for about 4 - 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the coconut extract and the coconut milk.

Simmer for an additional 5 - 8 minutes, again, stirring all the time, until the mixture thickens slightly. Strain into a bowl.

Chill until completely cold. Churn in an ice cream machine, following its instructions.