Mango Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Hello my name is Claudia and I love ice cream. I mean it. I. Love. Ice. Cream.

It's the perfect sweet treat, only rivaled by the cookie. And, the chocolate croissant. And, maybe brownies. Ok, so my name is Claudia and I love sweets. 

But, it's true. I do love ice cream. It's cool, creamy, rich and the perfect vehicle for lots of flavors. Unfortunately ice cream, dairy ice cream to be exact, doesn't really love me. I'm not going to get into it right now, but I try to stay away from dairy as much as possible. Because of that, we've switched to buying dairy free ice cream. We've tried quite a few from those made with hemp milk to almond milk. We've settled on ice creams made with coconut milk as our favorites. 

Our quest to find the next best thing to dairy ice cream has led us to buy quite a few pints of not so cheap coconut milk ice cream. I finally broke down and bought an ice cream maker to make my own creamy creations and hopefully save us some money. While we doubt it will truly save us money, it sure has opened the door to more flavors! 

Enter this mango coconut milk ice cream. 

The idea actually came from my mom. She came over one night and tried my first batch of homemade ice cream. It was this tasty chai coconut ice cream from Cookie and Kate. She loved it and immediately started dreaming of other flavors. She imagined mango would be quite good and so I promised to make it next. Needless to say she was right. Mom really does know best!

I used this recipe and subbed all milk and cream for coconut milk, omitted the lemon juice and skipped the corn syrup. I also used fresh mangos. The result is a rich, lush mango ice cream with a hint of coconut. Definitely one that will be made again and again.

I'm so happy we finally got an ice cream maker. We're already dreaming of the next flavor. I'm imagining a lemongrass ginger. Nathan is pushing for coffee ice cream. Whatever it is, I hope it's as good as this one. 

Mango Coconut Milk Ice Cream

slightly adapted from Gourmet Mango Coconut Milk Ice Cream May 2004

1 1/4 cup of fresh mango (I used 3 small Ataulfo mangoes)

2 1/4 cups coconut milk

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Start by removing the pulp from the mango. You can find a good tutorial on how to cut a mango here.

Place fresh mango and one cup of coconut milk in a blender. Blend until smooth and set aside. 

Place remaining 1 1/4 cup of coconut milk in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Do not let it boil. 

While milk is heating up, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and pinch of salt. Whisk until yolks are just pale yellow. 

Once coconut milk is hot, whisk in half a cup of milk into egg yolk mixture. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and continuing cooking over a low flame for 8-10 minutes. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon when ready.* Again, do not let it boil. 

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla and mango puree until well combined.

Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. If the mixture is still warm let it come to room temperature. Otherwise, cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill overnight. 

Once chilled you can place it in your ice cream maker and follow your models instructions for making ice cream.

*I always run my finger along the back of the spoon and if the mixture doesn't run and leaves a clear path on the spoon it's ready.