Chocolate Curry Coconut Ice Cream and Coconut Shortbread Cookies

I must apologize for my absence from my blog.  All good things have taken me away for the past couple of weeks.  I have been traveling and spending time with my family. I spent a week in Santa Rosa, California, with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and my niece and nephew.  Much of the family joined us over the Memorial Day weekend to celebrate three BIG birthdays and one eighth grade graduation.  But I will write more about that later and include lots of photos of all the adventures I had and the delicious food I ate.

Summer has arrived, if not literally, at least the weather has shifted to warmer days, my Girl is home from school, and I feel like being in the garden and going barefoot.  The barbecue is uncovered and we actually ate “al fresco” Saturday evening for the first time since last October.  Even in Southern California I can sense the change of seasons and the arrival of summer conjures up childhood memories of when the days were longer, the nights warmer, and it seemed we hadn’t a care in the world.

With summer weather, comes summer sweet treats.  Although I am obsessed with ice cream year round, it just seems to taste better during the summer months.  I am such an ice cream fanatic that when I travel to new places, I search out the local ice creameries ahead of time and make them a part of my itinerary.  Back quite a few months ago when there was still a chill in the air and before I officially began to publish my blog, I happened upon a wonderful  artisanal ice cream recipe book call Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, by Jeni Britton Bauer.  Not only did I fall in love with the book, but I fell in love with Jeni.  In the beginning of the book she shares the personal and intricate details of her journey from her first and short-lived store Scream, as a pink haired twenty-two year old, to the successful opening of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams many years later.  I respect her philosophy; I am impressed by her tenacity; and I admire her dedication to seeing her dream to fruition.  Her recipes are inventive with creative and interesting flavor combinations – and all without the addition of eggs.  Yes – they’re eggless!  You are probably questioning how great ice cream could be absent the usual addition of egg yolks found in most recipes.  Trust me when I tell you that of the half dozen recipes I have tried from her book – one was better than the next.  Rich, creamy, and smooth.

Here I give you an adapted version of one of the recipes from her book.  If you are not a big curry fan, simply omit it.  The chocolate and coconut alone still result in a marvelous ice cream.  I have paired this recipe with a Coconut Shortbread cookie because – well, just because!  I have been in search of a coconut cookie reminiscent of one from my childhood.  At last this one satisfies my memory.  An incredibly easy cookie to make – it last for days in a tightly sealed container, and freezes beautifully.  I think it mingles perfectly with the flavors of this ice cream.

Lastly, if you don’t own an ice cream making machine, I strongly urge you to invest in one.  There are really good and reasonably priced models available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and many department stores.  I have the Cuisinart version with the freezable canister.  I even bought a second canister so I could churn larger batches of ice cream at the same time.  Ice cream is incredibly easy to make and nothing tastes better than homemade!

 

Source:  Ice Cream – Adapted from Jeni’s Spendid Ice Creams at Home
Coconut Shortbread Cookies –  Inspired by Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey




7 thoughts on “Chocolate Curry Coconut Ice Cream and Coconut Shortbread Cookies

  1. Hooray! You’re back! Carley & I are in Istanbul, and we were just saying that you haven’t posted in awhile – we missed you! Looking forward to trying this when we get home.

    • I have been thinking about the two of you and your travels. Can’t believe you are checking in all the way from Istanbul. Can’t wait to hear all about it!

  2. The ice cream sounds awesome and exotic. We will give it a try this weekend. Checking in from Istanbul is very exciting, and a lot more interesting than Northern Cal!

  3. okay can I brag and say that I was lucky enough to have this ice cream in the sifting focus kitchen and it was AMAZING!

    Do yourself a favor and make this ice cream…

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