"Fried" Ice Cream

That's right, fried goodness....well, sort of...more like faux fried goodness! I don't have liquid nitrogen lying around the house, and typically fried ice cream you get at restaurants is frozen way way past the freezing point to temps way below zero. This way when they flash fry it, the ice cream doesn't melt. My "fried" outer coating is not cooked, but uses coconut oil and walnuts for the fried-like taste... so technically this recipe is Faux Fried Ice Cream- but way quicker and much healthier :) You get the corn flake or tempura batter taste with out all the work and the uncooked egg you most likely get in the restaurant version.

This particular recipe is a twofer. I was in the mood for a more Asian inspired fried ice cream so I made some green tea ice cream. You can make this with any flavored ice cream at home. Just follow the directions for the assembly below. Also, if you don't want to take the extra time, you can use the green tea ice cream recipe by itself to make green tea milkshakes- ooooh, or even bubble tea if you have some tapioca pearls lying around.

I have been using only fruit to sweeten most of my desserts for a while. I have developed some formulas while playing around with other natural sweeteners as well. So now there are options for your sweet tooth! If you are feeling particularly healthy- make this one with only pureed bananas to sweeten it. I also made notes for using all honey, brown rice syrup, or coconut nectar if that suits your fancy :)

“Fried” Green Tea Ice Cream

Makes 4, 1-cup-sized ice cream domes

Ingredients

For the Green Tea Ice Cream:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp Matcha green tea powder (found in most Asian markets or here)
  
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 cups non-dairy milk (I used 1 cup coconut milk + 1 cup homemade almond milk)
• 1/2 cup honey, brown rice syrup, or 1/3 cup coconut nectar (You can also use 2 pureed bananas and 2 Tbs of sweetener like honey, brown rice syrup or coconut nectar, or you can use 3 pureed ripe bananas for a totally fruit sweetened dessert)
• Pinch of salt

For the “Fried” Part:

• 1 cup coconut
• 1cup walnuts
  
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  
• 2 tsp almond butter
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 dates (optional- no need if you are going for the traditional corn-flake taste)
  

Method

For the Green Tea Ice Cream:

• Heat ½ cup of the non-dairy milk and the coconut oil in a skillet or pan. Don’t boil- just bareyly scald (160 ° F).
• Blend the Matcha powder with a small ammount of the non-dairy milk to make a paste to get the clumps out, then add that to the ½ cup milk in the skillet.
• In a blender, blend the sweetener of choice, the rest of the milk, the cooked green tea/ milk/ coconut oil mixture, and the salt.
• Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
• While the ice cream is freezing,
  

For the “fried” part:

• Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until crumbly.
• Spread out onto a plate or tray.
• Set aside while you finish waiting for your ice cream to freeze.
  

Assembly:

• When mostly frozen, scoop out the ice cream onto a parchment lined tray with a large ice cream scooper or a 1 cup-sized measure. If you are using store bought ice cream, or your own- start with this step after you have made the "fried" part and measure out your ice cream onto a parchment lined tray and re-freeze if needed.
  
• Freeze the ice cream "domes" until hardened- about 30 minutes - 1 hr.
• When solid, roll the ice cream dome in the “fried” mixture, pressing it onto the top of the dome with your hands. Re-freeze for about 5-10 minutes before serving so the fried mixture has solidified and is good and stuck onto the ice cream. Enjoy!

This post has been linked up to: Flip Cookbook's Sugar Free Sunday

Happy Un-fried Ice cream making!
Eryn