Coconut Kiss Ice Cream

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One of my favorite things about Spring, and Easter in particular, is the arrival of coconut candy. Coconut Doves are fabulous, but my favorite are Coconut Kisses.  As much as I love unwrapping their shiny blue wrappers and popping one after another in my mouth, I knew a candy as delicious as this needed to be showcased.  Thus, my creation of Coconut Kiss Ice Cream.

I used a recipe from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, as a jumping off point.  I can't get enough of Jeni's method for making ice cream.  It creates the most luxurious ice cream. 

The coconut ice cream base is insanely creamy.  Maybe the creamiest ice cream I have ever tasted, much less made.  Chopping the kisses allows their creamy filling to make its way into the ice cream and adding another level of coconut flavor and texture.  Coconut lovers will go crazy for this ice cream. Crazy.

I have only been able to find Coconut Kisses during the Easter candy season making them a rare and precious commodity.  Grab 'em up while you can and try to save a few to make Coconut Kiss Ice Cream.

Coconut Kiss Ice Cream
slightly adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, Jeni Britton Bauer

1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk (not light)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup coarsely chopped Hershey Coconut Kisses

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, coconut milk, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatporrof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. 

Pour the mixture in a 1-gallon freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath.  Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker and process until thick and creamy, about 20 minutes.  Add the chopped coconut kisses and process for another minute or so.

Pour ice cream into container and freeze until firm.