Coffee Banana Icecream

A couple of years ago, when my dear friend H gifted me an ice-cream maker as a wedding present I was thrilled with the possibilities... home-made ice-cream during the summer, philadelphia-style, without nasty preservatives. Since then, I've experimented with simple ice-creams, adding fruits on hand with cream, milk and sugar. I've tried coffee ice cream before.. it was simple enough - mix cream/milk/half-and-half with instant coffee and sugar, and churn away. The last time I went for a mocha flavor and added chocolate shavings toward the end of the freezing process.

An unusual combination struck me this time . I love bananas (Ahem! Is there a monkey gene somewhere trying to express itself?)  - I love most fruits and all the unique flavors but the banana is my comfort fruit, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I decided to throw in a mashed ripe banana with the coffee and I loved it. I can see people going "yuck!" at this combination, but if you like bananas or have an adventurous palate, I'd say this is worth trying.

Ingredients

3 C Half-and-half (or any combination of milk and cream you prefer)
3/4 C Sugar (Will reduce this to 1/2 C next time, and yes, there will be a next time!)
4 T Instant Coffee
1 large Banana, mashed
1 T Honey

Chill the half-and-half thoroughly. Mix together the sugar, coffee and one cup half-and-half, until the sugar and coffee dissolve completely. Add the rest of the half-and-half, and stir until thoroughly combined. Freeze, following the ice cream maker's instructions. Meanwhile, mash one large banana with the honey and add in the final stages of churning. Freeze at least for an hour before serving. I can see toasted almonds being a nice garnish for this ice cream.