Banana Ice Cream with Roasted, Salted Pistachios
 
 
by:
Serves: Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
  • ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt (or a pinch of table salt)
  • 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 very ripe bananas
  • ⅔ cup roasted, salted pistachios, roughly chopped
Instructions
  1. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
  2. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
  3. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
  4. Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and add the bean and seeds to the milk mixture. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
  5. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
  6. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.
  7. Cut the bananas into chunks and purée in a food processor. Whisk the banana purée into the ice cream base.
  8. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand until cold, about 30 minutes. (If you’re making the ice cream base ahead, skip the ice bath. Just transfer the warm base to a container and refrigerate until you’re ready to churn it.)
  9. When ready to freeze the ice cream base, remove the vanilla beans and discard. Freeze the ice cream base in your ice cream maker until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, layering in the pistachios as you go. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze for at least 3 hours.
Notes
This ice cream base comes together quickly and can be made days ahead, and then churned the day you serve it. Be sure to use homogenized milk, or the consistency will not be smooth and creamy. This recipe is adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home.
Recipe by Three Many Cooks at https://threemanycooks.com/recipes/sweet-treats/banana-ice-cream-with-roasted-salted-pistachios/