Pineapple Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

Yes, another delicious homemade ice cream recipe I've tried in my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker. This one was inspired by one of my favorite cocktails - the Pina Colada! I read an article recently that talked about the new rage in summer drinks being the "Mocktail" and that got me to thinking about how to make a pineappley delicious version of my favorite cocktail as ice cream treat.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup 1% milk
5 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup half & half
20 oz can pineapple, drained
1 cup toasted coconut flakes* (toasting instructions below)

Puree the drained pineapple in a food processor or blender, set this aside.

Slowly dissolve sugar into milk over low heat stirring constantly. Bring this close to a boil and remove from heat. In a separate bowl, beat up the egg yolks a bit before SLOWLY adding the hot mixture to the eggs, constantly whisking. Add this back to the warm pan and place back over a low heat, stir constantly until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and allow to cool down until it's not steaming.

Whisk half & half into cooled mixture. Stir in 1 2/3 cups pineapple puree and vanilla. Cover and chill for 2 hours minimum. I recommend at least 4 hours for best results in the Kitchen Aid device.

Toast the coconut: Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Distribute coconut in an even layer in skillet. Periodically stir coconut for even toasting. If you are awesome and know the trick to flipping things by flicking the pan like a fancy chef, do that :) Cool the coconut completely.

Put the chilled ice cream base into the Kitchen Aid ice cream bowl, and let your mixer do the rest of the work. I let mine go for about 30 minutes for soft serve consistency. Stir the coconut in at the very end. Put ice cream into storage container and freeze for a few hours. (But if you are anything like me, only about half of that ice cream will ever see the inside of the freezer!)

Enjoy!

9-16-2008: Update - I used this same recipe and substituted 2 cups mashed banana for the pineapple and left out the toasted coconut. It was AWESOME! Next time I'm going to add roasted sliced almonds for texture.