Coconut Ice Cream

I love books written by people that chuck their everyday life and move to a foreign country. One of my favorites, A Trip to the Beach, was written by Melinda and Robert Blanchard and details their adventures moving to the island of Anguilla and trying to open a restaurant in the Caribbean were everything and everyone moves on 'island time'. In addition to this memoir, The Blanchards have written a couple of cookbooks, including At Blanchard's Table A Trip to the Beach featuring recipes from their restaurant Blanchard's Table.

One of their most popular desserts is the Cracked Coconut, two chocolate 'shell' halves generously covered with toasted coconut then filled with coconut ice cream and a pool of Kahlua Custard Sauce. (Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.) I wasn't foolish enough to try all of the components of this exquisite dessert for fear of eating all eight servings. I did however make the coconut ice cream. Super easy, super rich, super creamy and super delicious. I added a handful of chocolate chips to the mix but the ice cream is delicious without it. You could easily pair this with any of coconut's good friends; pineapple, lime, lemon, mango, etc. for different variations on this ice cream or as a finishing touch to other desserts. A bowl of this ice cream, a good book, a hammock and some sunshine and you can fake your own trip to the beach!

Coconut Ice Cream
At Blanchard's Table, Melinda and Robert Blanchard

1 1/4 cups Coco Lopez cream of coconut
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl and chill thoroughly. Mix well and freeze according to ice cream machine directions.