Banana Ice Cream With Chocolate Espresso Swirl

You haven’t lived until you’ve sipped sweetened condensed milk straight from the can, which has been memorialized forever in the movie, “The English Patient.” Actually, when my husband was growing up in Switzerland, he sipped sweetened condensed milk straight from a tube! In Switzerland, so many great foods come in tubes!

I love morning coffee, and coffee with sweetened condensed milk brings me right back to memories of the great trips we’ve taken around the world. Places like Vietnam, Jamaica, and Thailand. Switching to a plant-based diet doesn’t mean that you have to forfeit all of life’s treats. Nature’s Charm makes a wonderful coconut sweetened condensed milk, which is what we are using in today’s Banana Ice Cream with Chocolate espresso swirl recipe! While not your everyday ice cream, this treat will make you think you’ve just woken up on a tropical paradise, without a shadow of a doubt. Note: The alcohol is optional but highly recommended! It helps to keep the ice cream from getting rock hard in the freezer.

Banana Ice Cream With Chocolate Espresso Swirl

Make the chocolate espresso swirl – In a small saucepan, whisk the espresso powder, water, blue agave nectar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is melted. Chill at least 2 hours.

Make the ice cream – Put all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender and purée until smooth. Chill for 3-4 hours. Transfer to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions until thick.  

Scrape one-third of the ice cream into a glass loaf pan. Drizzle with some chocolate espresso syrup. Repeat until layers are complete. Using a small spatula or knife, gently drag through the ice cream in an “S” shape to create the swirl pattern. 

Cover and freeze until solid, preferably overnight.

makes about one quart

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO SAUCE 

  • 1½ tsp King Arthur® espresso powder
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp blue agave nectar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 oz vegan dark chocolate, coarsely chopped  

BANANA ICE CREAM 

  • 2 cups of full-fat coconut milk
  • 4 ripe, medium-sized bananas, broken into chunks
  • ½ cup of Nature’s Charm® sweetened condensed coconut milk
  • ½ cup of refined coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup of cacao butter, melted
  • ¼ vodka, optional
  • ½ tsp pink sea salt