Marshmallow Time
“He lost track of time and he did not know how long he had been standing in the doorway.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
March arrived with a jolt of awareness that time was passing, quickly. The days of the calendar flirted with me. Pay attention to me now or I will pass you by. We hurl down the freeway of time as the miles melt away in the rear view mirror of yesterday. Just a tease, a fleeting glimpse as the calendar marks the miles traveled. A quarter of the year will soon be gone and there is so much I still want to accomplish.
Essentials
Chubby pieces of toasted coconut, chunks of crumbled Graham Crackers and toasted marshmallows are folded into a coconut ice cream base for a lush spring treat. The flavors and textures mix and mingle into an enchanting dance of scoopable seduction. You must tell yourself one scoop is enough. I imagine adding chunks of chocolate would transform the ice cream into a tropical S’More.
I have been happily enthralled with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home since last summer. Her innovative ice creams do not include an egg custard but use cornstarch, corn syrup and cream cheese in the base recipe. Her method for making a smooth rich ice cream is irresistible. I used her recipe for Bangkok Peanut Ice Cream that includes coconut milk along with milk and cream as the base for my Coconut Graham Ice Cream with Toasted Marshmallows.
For the Graham Crackers and marshmallows I used recipes from America’s Test Kitchen D.I.Y. Cookbook. The marshmallow recipe yielded the most sucessful results I have ever had but the Graham Cracker recipe was disappointing. While the marshmallows were the least sticky (after cooling!) of any recipe I’ve ever tried the Grahams stuck like glue to the top piece of parchment paper when I tried to roll them out. I started over, chilling the dough before rolling them out on top of a piece of parchment. The dough was much easier to handle after chilling. I cut and scored the Grahams directly on the parchment as the recipe directed but I also used my bench scraper to gently seperate the crackers before baking. This resulted in all four edges of the cracker having the same decorative edge. I also lowered the oven temperature to 350° from 375°. The batch I baked at 375° resulted in Grahams with overly browned edges and centers that were still soft.
| Ingredients | |
| 11/4C | whole milk |
| 1T+2t | cornstarch |
| 4T | cream cheese, softened |
| 1/2t | salt |
| 1/1/4C | heavy cream |
| 3/4C | coconut milk (not light) |
| 2/3C | sugar |
| 2T | light corn syrup |
| 1/2C | unsweeted, shredded coconut |
| 1/2C | graham cracker chunks & crumbs |
| 1/2C | mini marshmallows or regular size cut into quarters |
| 12 | marshmallows for garnish, optional |
- In a small bowl stir together 2T of the whole milk and the cornstarch. Set aside.
- In large bowl mix the cream cheese and salt until there are no visible lumps. Set aside.
- In a saucepan whisk together remaining milk, cream, coconut milk, sugar and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. (Leave the burner on.) Return the saucepan to the stove and bring the mixture back to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened, about 1 minute.
- Slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese. There should not be any lumps.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream. Chill completely before processing.
- While the ice cream mixture chills toast the coconut. Heat the oven to 350°. Spread the coconut across a parchment lined sheet pan. Toast for 3–5 minutes, until the coconut turns a golden brown. Watch the coconut closely as it will turn from toasted to burnt very quickly. Cool before adding to the ice cream.
- While the ice cream mixture chills toast the marshmallows. Heat the oven to broil. Spread the marshmallows across a parchment lined sheet pan. Toast until the marshmallows are browned. Watch the marshmallows closely as they will go from toasted to burnt very quickly. Cool before adding to the ice cream.
- Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer’s instructions. I mixed in the coconut, grahams and marshmallows after I removed the ice cream from the maker.
- Transfer ice cream to a storage container and freeze until set.
Garnish with additional toasted marshmallows if desired.
This ice cream is simply lovely! And your pictures are drop dead gorgeous! This recipe and your photos are all drool-inducing.
Thank you for your delicious comment Kate!
You had my attention at coconut! What an indulgence! 🙂 Looks absolutely delicious!
Yes and yes! The ice cream is indulgent! Thank you for your tasty comment!
Your photos are amazing and my girls would love this!
Kelly
Thank you for your sweet comment Kelly!
She lost track of time and did not realize how long she had been staring and drooling. 🙂 I MUST try! Your photos are so inviting and delicious, much like this recipe. YUM!
Adore the quote! What a lovely comment Jacquee!
Deb, this ice cream looks absolutely divine!
I’m so glad you liked the ice cream Viviane!
Is it wrong to say I want to dive head first into a bowl of this ice cream – even if it is only 9:00am? Maybe so, but I think it would make a great breakfast :). I am a complete ice cream lover, both making it and eating it. I will definitely have to try this recipe.
I adore the breakfast plan! Thank you for the sweet comment Mary!
Wow, this is stunningly styled! And such a fabulous combination of flavours, too! I am not much of a sweet person but I do admire what you have created here. We don’t have graham crackers here, although our digestive biscuits are similar in texture I suppose. My daughter would love me to make this for her, but I will leave the fiddly biscuit making to her 😀
Yes, I do love to make sweets! Graham crackers can be made with whole wheat flour as well. Thank you for the delicious comment Kellie!
Deb: What a bowl of goodness…The combination of flavors in this ice cream is different and simply phenomenal. Oh, so yummmmm!!!!
Thank you for your delicious comment Denise!
I absolutely love these flavors, Deb! The toasted marshmallows make an irresistible topping!
Thank you for the scrumptious comment Laura!
This is really an ice cream made from scratch! And with amazing flavors! Graham cracker dough definitely needs chilling before rolling. But they are so good, and they came out wonderful Deb. And marshmallows, I have to get down to business and make them once and for all. We don´t eat them here, so can´t buy them at the supermarket. I just have to decide to get into that sticky business.
The pics are gorgeous! Love those bowls.
Thank you for the lovely comment Paula! I agree, once the marshmallows are ready they go from sticky to firm very quickly!
Flavor bomb! Great inspiration!
Thank you Lynda!
though I’ve lost a little bit of my sweet tooth, I wish I could grab the graham crackers and those amazing marshmallows! okay… maybe just pass a spoon
Oh Orly, you’ve stopped by the right place for sugar filled temptation! LOL!
I appreciate your kind comment very much!
LOVE all the flavors for this ice cream (and the fact that it’s ice cream :))!
Thank you for the tasty comment Stephanie!
Wow, what a project! So inventive, Deb!
Thank you Carol! It was all great fun!