Categories: Recipe

A Very Asian Cold Treat – Durian Ice Cream (no machine involved) – Cloud of Cookmorphosis

Well, my favorite month of the year has officially passed. It’s October now, hmmm, I am not very excited about this month, don’t know why. The only thing that makes me raise my eye brows when mentioning October is Fall season is here (and Fall, once again, is my most lovable season of the year). And that’s it. I’m not fond of Halloween, not a big fan of Oktoberfest, well, then what should I do in this month without involving with those big days of October? If you have any recommendation, feel free to do so, I do need some awesome advice thou.

I don’t hate October nor love it. Just every year, I did not have any excitement to begin with. September? I’m crazy about it. November? Gosh, Thanks Giving and Holiday cooking season, what not to love. And here it is, the only month in my most favorite season that I do not really enjoy. Did I underestimate October? Maybe. I know to most of you, October is all about Halloween: dress up, decorate, carve pumpkins and have fun. But for some reasons, I did not enjoy those at all. I did all of that activities before and to be honest, they’re not my things. Or things will be changed since this year, maybe. Because my crazy group of friends are brainstorming some freaking weird costume ideas that we will all wear on the night of darkness. Then I will find the excitement for the month all over again? Finger crossed.

It starts chilling here in Texas, just few hours of a day but it’s quite enough for now. The afternoon is the pain in the brain because the heat is still wandering. However, late night and early morning are awesome. I can feel the chilled air surrounded my silly face whenever I walk outside at these hours. I wish I could just close my eyes and open my arms as wide as possible, make a deep breathe and exhale out loud to clean out my lung with fresh air. But too bad, I might wake up my not-so-kind-next-door neighbors and scare the feral cat whom I’ve feeding for over a year away.

This chilling weather could not stop me from craving for ice cream. There is always time for ice cream regardless of how cold the weather is, don’t you just agree with me? Ok, so this recipe is not just about any ice cream guys. It’s durian ice cream, and for most of us Asian, durian is such an awesome and sacred fruit that we have ever had in our life. I love durian, love it so much that I can drink durian smoothie, eat durian ice cream as well as fresh durian at the same time. Maybe I should use the word “crazy” instead, right? Ok, let me say it again, I am crrrrrrazy about durian.

I have wanted to make durian ice cream at home so badly, and not until last week I had free time to do so. Gosh, my whole place smelled … of course … like durian and I bet Cloud and Rain were pretty much hate me the entire time I was cooking with durian. Yup, my precious kittens hate durian, in fact, I did chase them around with a spoon full of durian, ha ha (so mean, I know). The Lord hates it so much that every time he saw me take out durian, he runs away immediately. While Rain the Great is just gonna slowly walk away, he hates it but still wants to put his coolness on, I guess.

Okay, back to the topic. What is so special about this Durian ice cream that I’m bragging about, you might wonder? Number 1. There is no ice cream maker involved. That means: no maker – no problem. This ice cream is made from scratch, with regular cooking ware but it brings the most soft and moist texture that you could never imagine in any homemade ice cream. Number 2. You can actually make it right before eating. That means: no left-over or constantly re-frozen ice cream. Pretty good deal in this homemade ice cream package, right? It’s time for the recipe, and as always, enjoy guys!

P.S: I ate this yummy durian ice cream with some crushed ice, butter cookies and cooked sweet red beans. And it was the BOMB guys, a MUST try cold treat combo. Go for it (we can always spend extra hours for yoga and pilates to ‘throw away’ those sugar & fat, so don’t worry too much, that was what I did by the way. Go foolish with dessert? Yashhhh, please).

Ingredients:
2 c fresh or frozen durian meat
1/2 c condensed milk
2 c whole milk
Dash of salt
5 gelatin sheets (substitute for 1 1/2 tbsp gelatin powder)
Crushed ice
Cooked sweet red beans (– optional

Steps:

In a blender, puree durian meat with condensed milk and 1/2 c of whole milk
Bloom gelatin sheets in ice cold water until soft (if using gelatin powder, follow instruction on the package)
In a stainless steel pan, heat durian puree mixture and the rest of whole milk on medium low heat, add salt, constantly stir until there are small bubbles formed on the milk surface. Remove from heat.
Take gelatin sheets out of cold water and squeeze out excess water. Put them in the heated mixture, give it 1 to 2 stir until all the gelatin sheets are dissolved completely. (Do the same if using gelatin powder).
Pour the mixture into a round or rectangular pan. Chill for 5 hours or until the liquid set completely.
Use a knife, gently core the gelatin-like-durian-ice-cream into small cubes. Then transfer the pan to the freezer and freeze over night.
Right before eating, take out the frozen durian ice icrem tray. It will be easy to break the cubes apart by hands or spoon. Then put several cubes in a blender, blend on medium speed or pulse 5-6 times until the texture becomes smooth and looks like ice cream. At this time, you can easily scoop durian ice cream. Serve immediately on top of crushed ice and/or cooked sweet red beans.