Banana Pecan Piloncillo Ice Cream

Hey, remember me?

Sorry for the long hiatus. I lost some steam on this project because some things in my personal life had the AUDACITY to take priority. The nerve.

But I'm back, and I'm excited to get back to the yummies.

In my nerdiness, I created a spreadsheet of all the recipes so I could track when I made what, to ensure that I make recipes from the different categories with a fairly even distribution. I also categorized which recipes would be good for which season/holiday. This is the first of my "summer" category, and I am woefully behind. I'm hoping there's enough summery Oklahoma weather left for me to whip them all out in time.

Now, have you ever heard of piloncillo? I hadn't. It is an "unrefined Mexican cane sugar that gives this ice cream a slightly musky molasses flavor." Also, it is a really hard word to type: Pilncio. Pilloicniil. Pilonciil. Try it; you'll see.

You can find piloncillo in Latin American markets. I found mine in an Asian market, actually. And I bet if your area has a sizable Latin population, you can probably even find it in the regular grocery store. I you can't, you can substitute dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar (whatever that is), but the cookbook authors discourage the substitution. It comes in a little cone:

The ice cream wasn't quite what I expected, but it was very tasty. You'll notice that the recipe calls for a pretty small amount of cream, so it's not the creamiest ice cream, but it's cold, flavorful, and yummy, which is really all you need. 

Banana Pecan Piloncillo Ice Cream (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.

Ingredients

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 c firmly packed, grated piloncillo
• 8 very ripe bananas, peeled, wrapped in aluminum foil, and frozen
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c finely chopped toasted pecans

Cooking Directions

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water and the cinnamon stick and simmer until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the piloncillo and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Unwrap the frozen bananas, chop them coarsely, and set them aside.
3. Remove the cinnamon stick from the syrup and pour the syrup into a blender. Add the cream and bananas and blend until smooth and mushy.
4. Pour into an ice cream machine and freeze, following the manufacturer's directions. Add the pecans to the ice cream a few minutes before the cycle is finished, or consult the manufacturer's direction about additions. Since the mixture is partially frozen, it will not take long to freeze--about ten minutes.