Roasted Banana Ice Cream w/Dulce de Leche Swirls
When I made this, we were in that seasonally awkward period where no fruit is really in season or all that appealing. Plus, my wife and I were on something of a banana kick, so it only seemed natural that I make ice cream.
This was really simple to make a far as ice creams go–no eggs, no custard, etc. Instead, you roast some bananas with a bit of butter and brown sugar to really intensify the sweet and unique flavor. Once pureed, this gives the same texture an body as a more traditional egg-centric ice cream.
The ice cream had a very strong, molassesy banana taste that I fell in love with. I also mixed in chunks of banana and swirls of dulce de leche just to make things more addictive and punchy in flavor, and all I can say is wow, this is an incredibly delicious ice cream. I would double the batch though–the yield is a bit smaller than what I’m used to…and you’ll devour it very quickly. 
This is derived from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1.5 cups whole milk
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4-1/2 cup dulce de leche
Chop 3 of the bananas into coins and toss them in the brown sugar and butter (chopped into small pieces) in a baking dish. Bake in a 400°F oven for 40 minutes, stirring once.
Once time is up, the bananas should be fairly browned and juicy. Scrape the contents of this pan (bananas and syrup) into a blender/food processor along with the milk, sugar, vanilla, lemon, and salt and puree til nice and smooth. Cover and chill this in the fridge for a few hours.
While you wait, there’s my favorite mix-in: dulce de leche. Making dulce de leche is quite simple (and oh so good), but if you’re feeling lazy, you can always buy it premade. I made mine during this down time. The upside when you make your own is your prone to having leftovers, and so the cycle of eating dulce de leche continues.
Once things are sufficiently cooled down, churn the mixture in your ice cream maker per the instructions that came with yours for about 20 minutes. I sliced (into small bits) the fourth banana, and once time is up, mixed it into the ice cream along with a few globs of dulce de leche. Promptly transfer this to the freezer and let it sit overnight to take on the right texture.
Finally, the waiting game is over. Get out your ice cream scoop and dig in! Enjoy!
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