Do you love coconut as much as I do? This homemade Coconut Custard Ice Cream recipe is rich and creamy, filled with coconut flavor, and one you’ll want to make over and over again.
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If you’d rather skip my helpful tips, tricks, essential cooking information, and delicious similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card. It’s right there with a pretty bright yellow background.
If you have any questions about how to make this recipe, or if you try it, please come back and leave a comment below letting us know how it goes.
When we finished the last batch of ice cream, Salted Caramel Ice Cream to be exact, we decided that we needed more. It was so good. So creamy and super yum. Perhaps we finished it too quickly, but nonetheless, we needed another homemade ice cream.
So, we discussed what the next flavor would be. In our discussions, we talked about how good custard based, or frozen custard ice creams are. And, that word “custard” spurred my husband into saying that he loves coconut custard pie, and wouldn’t it be delicious to make a coconut custard pie ice cream.
How to toast coconut:
Toasting coconut brings out its nutty full flavor yumminess.
I shared a couple different ways on how to toast coconut over here.
Just be sure that the coconut has cooled completely before you add it to the Coconut Custard Ice Cream or it will produce little icy crystals in the ice cream.
Why do you need eggs in ice cream?
Eggs, specifically egg yolks, play several roles in homemade ice cream.
Yolks contain mostly fat and protein. Because fat freezes differently than water, it makes ice cream soft and creamy.
And the protein in eggs, when cooked, coagulates into a thick gel. Water gets trapped in these cooked proteins, and because it’s trapped and surrounded protein, the water can’t form ice crystals. No ice crystals means smooth, creamy ice cream.
Frozen custard
Want to read more about frozen custard based ice creams and why I think they are the bee’s knees? Hop over to my Salted Caramel Ice Cream recipe.
And, if you’d like to learn more about the differences between ice cream, sorbet, gelato, and all the other frozen treats, hop over here. I also have some good tips and tricks there.
Possible mix ins
- Add ½ cup crumbled graham crackers for Coconut Cream Pie Ice Cream
- Toss in ½ cup drained crushed pineapple for a piña colada ice cream
- Pour in ¼ cup coconut rum for a tropical delight ice cream
- Spread this ice cream into a cooked pie shell, or a graham cracker pie crust for a frozen coconut cream pie
- Add ½ cup chopped mounds or almond Joy candy bar to the machine for a coconut candy bar ice cream
- Try tossing in ½ cup crumbled Samoas cookies for a girl scout ice cream
- Swirl in some salted caramel for a coconut caramel ice cream
To properly swirl in a mix-in
If you want to swirl in a sauce or jam to your ice cream, there are two ways to do that.
My favorite is the layer and swirl method. Remove one-third of the finished soft ice cream from the machine, and spoon it into a freezer safe container. Remember my favorite container is this insulated ice cream tub. Cover the ice cream with one-third of the sauce or jam. Repeat, making layers with the remaining ice cream and sauce. Place the layered ice cream in the freezer to firm it up before serving. As you scoop, it will look like swirls.
The second way is to wait until the machine has finished freezing the ice cream. Remove the mixer bar before spooning the sauce over the soft frozen ice cream. Lightly swirl in a zigzag pattern with a small knife or fork.
Looking for other great coconut recipes?
Click on the photo to get to the recipes
Coconut Custard Pie
Gluten-Free Coconut Muffins
Vegan No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Candy Cookies
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Homemade Coconut Custard Ice Cream Recipe
Coconut Custard Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar and the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in flour and salt. Set aside.
- Bring the coconut milk to a light boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot coconut milk into the egg mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan, and place over low heat. Stir constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon; keep a close eye on it, as it should never come to a boil. When thick enough, the custard should register 170°F on a candy thermometer. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a large clean bowl.
Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.
- Cover the surface of the custard mixture with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 or up to overnight.
- Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker, adding ½ cup toasted sweetened coconut to the machine when the ice cream is semi frozen. Allow the machine to mix in the coconut. Proceed according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer the finished ice cream to an airtight container and place it in the freezer until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
This makes a small batch of ice cream. It's just right for a treat, but may leave you wanting a second batch!
Liz Della Croce says
I could use a bowl or two of this!
Crystal Faulkner says
I love coconut! This looks so good.
Katie Hughes says
Do we heat the heavy cream with the coconut milk in step two or do we incorporate the cream in a different step? I’m not seeing in the instructions where it’s added. Thanks!
Debi says
Katie, d’oh! I see that I totally forgot to add the instruction for the cream & vanilla. Thanks for letting me know. I updated the recipe card now. The cream and vanilla go in after the custard is made. Thanks for the help! Enjoy your ice cream!