Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream

Fancy dinners need to end with fancy desserts. David Lebovitz, who I’ve been talking about a lot lately, has a number of amazing dessert recipes on his blog. He’s where I got half of my idea for my Thanksgiving panna cotta (and when I discovered him, incidentally) and I am loving his recipes, even if most of the time it’s just with my eyes. I love bananas and this recipe seemed like a great way to use them. It tastes reminiscent of bananas foster, but without all the work. Or the fire.

Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream from David Lebovitz:

Makes about 3 cups

1¼ lb. very ripe bananas (6-7 medium), peeled and cut into ½” slices
¾ c. dark brown sugar
2 c. full-fat sour cream
Big pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. dark rum
½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a wide skillet or saucepan, heat the brown sugar with ½ cup of sour cream, stirring, until smooth and bubbly. Add the bananas and salt, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the bananas are soft and completely cooked through. It should take about five minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream, rum and vanilla. Puree in a blender or food processor until completely smooth.

Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. I ended up doing it for a few minutes over the normal amount for my machine (22-25 minutes) due to doing many other things for our anniversary dinner, including burning the broccoli. Freeze for at least two hours. Because this is a non-cream based ice cream, it freezes harder than others and you will need to leave it out at room temperature for at least 5 minutes to bring it to a scoopable level.

I like this ice cream, but I do agree with my friend Kerry and Aaron that it is a little weird, owing to the addition of sour cream. The texture is also a little grainy. I think it would be fantastic with coconut milk, as the original recipe started with, but I also think that the mixture would be great in my normal ice cream base (originally seen here). I think that’s what I’ll try next time. Make no mistake, I dig this ice cream and it was a fitting end to my anniversary meal, I just think it could be even better.