Rum Raspberry Coconut No Churn Ice Cream

Thought one. 

When we were in Hilo last summer we stopped in a supermarket and I stumbled on sweetened condensed coconut milk. I’d never seen it before so I bought two cans and flew them back in the checked bag. I cleaned out the pantry yesterday and realized they are a month short of expiring. 

Thought two.

Rum raisin is not an ice cream flavor that interests me, but I owe it credit for helping me to think of rum raspberry. A lot of shoots for clients lately have involved raspberries so I’ve had a handful here and there to put to use (as may have been evident from last week’s cream cheese scones). 

Thought three.

This no churn ice cream. 

You don’t have to have the sweetened condensed coconut milk to make this. This follows the standard recipe for a no churn ice cream, so you can use the regular version. But if you can find it, use it because it is delicious. 

You also have some options with the raspberries. I strained them and used the thick sauce to swirl into the ice cream. I go back and forth between seeds. I don’t mind them, but opted not to include them this time around. So an option is to skip straining and stir the cooked sauce, seeds and all, into the ice cream. Your call.

I used white rum here so you don’t get an overwhelming rum flavor in the ice cream. Feel free to use dark or add a little extra when soaking the berries. 

Nothing else left but to enjoy. No churn ice cream is so easy and so creamy. If you’ve never made it, you may not go back to churning!

Ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 can (12 ounces) sweetened condensed coconut milk (or plain)*
1 cup fresh raspberries
1.5 ounces white rum
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut chips or flakes, toasted

*Note:  Don’t get too hung up on the ounces here. It’s flexible. The sweetened condensed coconut milk I found was just under 12 ounces. Regular sweetened condensed milk is usually 14 ounces. Either works fine. 

Preparation

Whisk the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes on high. Fold the sweetened condensed milk into the whipped cream until smooth and ingredients are fully combined.

Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan. Freeze for about 2 hours, until it firms up, but it is still soft like a soft serve ice cream. 

When you put the pan in the freezer, add the berries to a small bowl. Pour in the rum. Let soak for 1 hour. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the sugar. Heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Adjust the temperature to prevent it from boiling over. Stir and mash the berries and continue to boil for 5 minutes until it becomes a thick sauce. 

Set a mesh strainer over a bowl and pour in the sauce. Use a spoon to stir and smash the sauce against the mesh, extracting as much seedless sauce as possible. Let sit 5 minutes and stir again. Discard the seeds. Refrigerate the sauce until it is at room temperature. Not hot, but it doesn’t need to be completely cold either. 

Remove the ice cream from the freezer. Stir or swirl the sauce into the ice cream. Sprinkle the top with toasted coconut. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a lid. Freeze until firm enough to scoop and serve, 2 to 3 more hours.