Food Network Monthly: If I had an ice cream truck part two

So I can honestly say that the Drumstick Sugar Cone Ice Cream was a serious hit around here! My in-laws happily finished off what we had restrained ourselves from eating and my father-in-law said it was the best one ever!

Coming up with that flavour got me thinking about what other flavours of ice cream I would have if I had an ice cream truck. I thought about interesting flavour combinations I have had over the years and the first one that popped up was a memory of a truffle from Vosges chocolatier that I absolutely adored pre-vegan. I even had them as the favour at our wedding! The truffle is called Naga and it is a combination of deep milk chocolate, coconut and sweet curry powder. I have made truffles before with semi-sweet and dark chocolate and they are a little too deep for this flavour combo but I know from making chocolate ice cream that the flavour becomes much milkier by adding non-dairy milk and silken tofu so I knew that was the way to recreate the flavours I had enjoyed before. The next stumbling block was that I had no idea what sweet curry powder meant. I googled and came up with a few companies that in fact sell a sweet curry blend but I wanted to eat that ice cream now and didn't have the patience to wait for something to arrive in the mail! I decided that I would make my own sweet curry blend. I thought through what spices would be tasty in this recipe and settled on a nice mix of cumin, coriander, ginger, garam masala, fenugreek, amchur powder (dried green mango) and anise. I also added in some candied coconut flakes spiked with the sweet curry powder for good measure. I have become quite addicted to the candied coconut so in the recipe I made lots and you can thank me later. If you eat a bit of it at a time it tastes almost like the coconut wheels in the liquorice allsorts which were always my favourites. I should also say the base of all my recipes is always inspired by Carla Kelly's vanilla ice cream recipe. She found the magic formula and I just keep running with it.

Sweet Curry Choco-Coconut Ice Cream

Ice Cream Base

1 1/2 cups So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk

6 oz silken tofu (not the boxed stuff, the refrigerated one in water)

3/4 cup icing sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp sweet curry powder (recipe follows)

Candied Coconut Flakes

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sweet curry powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes (the big shards of it)

Sweet Curry Powder

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp anise seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 

1/2 tsp amchur powder

1. Start by making the sweet curry powder since you will need it to make the other two. Place all the spices in a spice grinder to grind the two seeds as well as mix the spices all together. Set aside and you will have extra leftover after making the ice cream.

2. Make the ice cream base: Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and pour the vegetable oil on top. Microwave on high for one minute (checking after 30 seconds since it might be done, microwaves vary) until the oil is warm and the chips are melting. Stir this until it is well mixed. Combine all the ice cream base ingredients in a blender and blend until it is well emulsified and is thick almost like pudding. Chill and process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

3. While the ice cream is churning, prepare the candied coconut. First preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a large rimmed sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper and set aside. Place the sugar, water, sweet curry powder and vanilla in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon or heat safe rubber spatula until the sugar has fully dissolved.  After about a minute or two the sugar will have dissolved and started to caramelize just slightly. Add in the coconut flakes and stir to coat them. Continue to cook while stirring for one more minute. Pour the coconut out (and any liquid left in the pot) onto the prepared sheet pan. Place in the oven for 5 minutes then stir/flip it and place back for 5 more minutes. You want it to be slightly browned. Once browned remove from the oven and let cool. It will crystallize and harden a bit as it cools and then you can break it up with your hands into smaller pieces. 

4. To finish the ice cream: Once your ice cream is finished churning, place in a freezer safe container and as you do sprinkle in pieces of the candied coconut. How much you add is up to you but you want to add enough that you will get a bit in each scoop (around 1/4-1/2 cup). Place in the freezer to let it really freeze and serve on a sugar cone once it has!