Durian is an edible fruit that is referred to as the ‘king of fruits’ in SouthEast Asia. It is a fairly large fruit that has a thorn-like covered exterior.
Though it is renowned for its rather pungent odor, it has a lot of nutritional value and is often used in sweet and savory dishes. It combines several flavors with hints of garlic and the sweetness of caramel.
The thick texture of this fruit makes it a perfect ingredient for ice cream. It also has a custard-like center and when frozen, this will have a very similar taste to soft-serve desserts (our delicious chinese dessert recipes is one you should taste).
When mixed with the other ingredients, i.e the milk and the cream, the flavor is going to be much more subtle.
Below, we have provided you with a delicious recipe for Durian Ice Cream. It is easy to make and doesn’t use a lot of ingredients.
Ingredients
- Durian fruit without seeds – Between 4 to 6 segments of fresh or frozen fruit, canned durian is also an option
- Milk – 1 cup
- Cream – 1 cup of light cream or ½ cup of heavy cream
- Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
- Sugar – ½ cup but can be increased if needed depending on your taste preferences
- Egg – (egg yolk recipe is a delicious recipe you need to taste) 2 large yolks or 4 medium egg yolks
Prep Time: This ice cream isn’t likely to take longer than 30 minutes to prepare.
Making the ice cream
Step 1:
First, you will need to make sure that you have all of the ingredients that we have listed above readily available.
Step 2:
In its original form, a Durian fruit will contain seeds. Chop your fruit and then remove all of the seeds inside. Once you have done this, you will then need to scoop the fruit away.
Step 3:
Next, you will need to put the fleshy fruit into a mixing bowl and then whisk it together until it starts to look more like a paste. Run this paste through a sieve using the back of a spoon to push the majority of the pulp through.
Ideally, you should now have at least 4 ounces of durian paste in the bowl. If you don’t have as much as this, you may wish to whisk some more durian fruit.
Step 4:
In a separate bowl, add the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar. Whisk these ingredients together until smooth. You can then set this mixture aside until a later stage.
Step 5:
Take the milk and heavy cream, and add to a pan. Heat these ingredients until smoke appears. Then reduce the heat to a lower setting. Next, you can take the egg mixture and combine it with a small amount of hot cream.
Mix until slightly yellow in color. This will ensure that the egg does not cook when it is combined with the rest of the cream and milk mix. Once you have reintroduced the mixture back to the heat, you will then need to keep stirring it until you notice it thicken.
The mixture will curdle if it is allowed to boil so try and avoid this.
Step 6:
When the mixture has thickened you can then remove it from the heat. This next step is where the durian fruit comes in. Add the creamy mixture and fruit into a bowl and then use a blender to combine it.
Instead of adding all of the durian fruit at once, you may prefer to add smaller teaspoons in gradually.
Step 7:
Now that you have mixed the fruit with the cream you must then wait until it has reached room temperature. If you own an ice cream maker the next steps will apply to you. Once the ice cream has reached room temperature you can then put it into the fridge.
After around 30 minutes, you will find that the ice cream has cooled. Add it to your ice cream machine and then spend around 15 minutes churning it. Your ice cream creation will now feel firmer than it did previously.
Finally, you can then freeze your ice cream until you are ready to serve it.
Step 8:
If you don’t have an ice cream machine, the final steps will differ. After mixing all of your ingredients you can then pour it into an airtight container and put it into your freezer to freeze overnight.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer around 5 minutes before you plan on serving it. This will give it time to get a little softer and easier to scoop.
Additional Tips
As you can see, the process that we have recorded above involves heating the mixture before letting it cool and then freezing it. However, you may wish to skip this step if you are looking for a method that isn’t going to consume as much of your time.
The previous steps will be the same, however, instead of adding the milk and cream to the pan to heat, you will first need to stir the milk with the durian fruit. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it becomes a lot thicker and you can form stiff peaks.
Next, you can combine the cream with the milk and durian fruit and whisk it until everything has combined. You can then continue from step number 8.
Some people may wish to top their ice cream before serving it. For example, a sprinkling of peanuts may be opted for by some whilst others may prefer to eat it as it is.
If you are going to be using a fresh durian rather than a frozen or canned variety, you must make sure that you know how to cut it up correctly.
To begin you will need to make an initial cut into the fruit, then you will need to tear it apart using your hands, being a little cautious of the thorny exterior. Remove the seeds and the amount of fruit that you need for your ice cream and you are good to go.
If you aren’t using a fresh durian this step isn’t going to apply to you.
