brown sugar bananas foster ice cream

I think, subconsciously,  I purposefully buy bananas in excess knowing we will never be able to consume them before they become ‘over-ripe.’ Because then I can use them to make stuff like this…Now, if you follow anything I’ve written over the last year, you know I eat a lot of ice cream. I may even consider it an official food group. So you know you can trust me when I say this is really, really, really good.

I think I consumed the most ice cream when I was pregnant with Finley. There I was, laid up on bedrest, spoon in hand shoveling Dulce de Leche and Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch straight from the container. Man, I was a mess.

Who am I kidding? I’m still a mess. And I still love shoveling ice cream into my pie-hole like it’s going out of style.  Curiously enough, so does Finley.

Coincidence? Probably not.

The boy and I were throwing elbows to get at this one. Yeah, yeah… you’d think I’d have an advantage because my elbows are bigger than his.

But his are way pointier.

 Brown Sugar Bananas Foster Ice Cream
(makes a generous quart)

2 large eggs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 very ripe bananas
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp dark rum
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup pan roasted pecan pieces

To roast the pecans, heat them in a small saute pan over medium-high heat for 3 – 5 minutes or until they start to smell nice and toasty. Be careful not to burn them, that smell is not good. Transfer to a glass bowl to cool while you’re making the ice cream.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they’re light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the brown and white sugars, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended and creamy. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Right before transferring the mixture to the ice cream maker, whisk in the rum and cinnamon. Pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Mash the bananas and lemon juice together in a small bowl, then whisk until smooth and free of lumps. After the ice cream stiffens to soft-serve consistency (around 2 minutes before it’s done), add the mashed bananas and the pan roasted pecans, then continue freezing until the ice cream is ready to transfer to a storage container.

Everything about this ice cream is pretty amazing. It’s smooth, creamy, banana-y, brown sugary, rummy, and nutty… Wait, did I just say ‘rummy’?

Yup. Sure did.

OMFG. SO GOOD.

NOTE: I know I’ve mentioned this before, but just in case you haven’t read my post on Malted Vanilla Bean with Milk Chocolate Chunks Ice Cream, I have this amazingly easy to use (and clean) Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that I would highly recommend if you’re in the market for one.