Wanna know what a winning ice cream tastes like? Yah… Look no further than this Mojito Ice Cream! This ice cream features all the flavors of a classic mojito – Limes, mint, rum in one frozen treat!
Last week I was asked; “How do you feel about putting all this work into developing/adapting recipes and just sharing them with the public?” I thought about it for a second. Why DO I work days, weeks, or even months perfecting a recipe only to publish it on my blog where people, mostly strangers have complete and free access?
Why?
Because when I make really good shit you guys need to know about it. Whether it’s 2 or 2 million of you – The second I perfect a recipe I share it. I believe food/recipes are meant to be shared, adapted, passed down, and cherished. Food is a way to bring people together, a consummate conversation starter – Therefore, while I still publish this blog you will always have access to my recipes.
And I’m kinda cool like that.
Now flow with me, we have ice cream to talk about.
Have I ever mentioned… I compete? I do. All the time. I enter a food competition called The Takedowns hosted by the amazing Matt Timms. Its America’s Most Important Food Competition. If you don’t know, now you know.
How does it work?
Easy. Matt Timms corrals a bunch of home cooks and lets us loose on his turf. We serve our hearts out while simultaneously interacting with the masses. The people then choose their very favorite via paper ballot. You win prizes and street cred amongst your fellow competitors.
I love me some street cred.
It’s totally laid back. The competitors are really cool and unpretentious – And whether you win or lose – It is always, always fun. Plus it’s the perfect way to share food and make new friends. The best part? There are NO.RULES.
Name one competition where it’s totally allowed to serve shots of rum without getting disqualified? Yeah… Takedown Sunday and Matt Timms – It’s where the real rule-free magic happens.
I first entered the Ice Cream Takedown 4 years ago on a courageous whim. With fear in my heart, and shaky hands I churned 2 gallons of ice cream and took third place Judge’s Choice. I’ve entered every year since and this year I FINALLY took First Place People’s Choice with this mojito ice cream.
I didn’t do it alone. I brought with me some secret weapons – A bomb ass sign designed by my step-daughter Stephanie, plus my extremely muscular personal trainer and friend in a very tight shirt, Mikey. His muscles are roughly the size of my head (did you peep those suckaaaaaas?!). Mikey, along with my childhood friend Heydy helped served Mojito Ice Cream and rum chasers. Heydy with her vibrant smile and personality (she’s the one in the floral dress), Mikey mesmerizing da ladies with a flex of the arm.
Real talk? My win was credited to a combination delicious boozy ice cream, rum chasers, Mikey’s muscle flex, and Heydy’s vibrant personality. Boom. #killerstrategy
This Mojito Ice Cream recipe doesn’t come with Mikey Muscle Flex (sorry ladies!), but it does come with the robust flavor of a mojito. In freezy form. The base of this ice cream starts with the zest of 4 limes, using cornstarch as an egg free stabilizer and steeped for hours with chopped mint leaves. Before you freeze this situation mint and zest are strained. A tart lime syrup is added, followed by a nice dose of coconut rum. You know, ’cause I’m a tropical chick.
This Mojito Ice Cream is smooth, light like sorbet, refreshing as hell, and a lil’ boozy. It tastes 100% like a mojito and I assure you will love this situation hard.
Hard.
So if you ever wondered what a winning ice cream REALLY tastes like, here it is homies. Shared – In all its boozy, zesty, minty muscled glory.
[purerecipe]
Ingredients
For the lime syrup
- 1/3 cup about 2 large limes Freshly squeezed lime juice
- 4 tablespoons Granulated sugar
For the cornstarch slurry
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Whole milk
For the lime/mint ice cream base
- 2 cups Whole milk
- 1 cup Heavy cream
- 3/4 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons Light corn syrup
- Zest of 4 Limes
- The cornstarch slurry
- 1 heaping cup Mint leaves roughly chopped
- 5 tablespoons Lime syrup
- 3 tablespoons Coconut rum
Instructions
- Make the lime syrup:
- In a small saucepan, combine lime juice and granulated sugar. Simmer over low/medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is slightly syrupy, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Transfer to a small container with a tight fitting lid and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the cornstarch slurry:
- In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and milk and stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Make the ice cream base:
- Prepare a large bowl with ice water. Place an open one gallon Ziploc bag inside the ice water and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan combine milk, heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup, and lime zest. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Once mixture has boiled reduce the heat to low and add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk the mixture vigorously until the cornstarch has cooked and the mixture has slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. You can test by tasting the mixture. If it tastes chalky to the tongue, cook for one more minute. Remove from heat and add the mint leaves. Stir a little to moisten the mint leaves.
- Transfer mixture to the prepared Ziploc bag inside the ice bath. Seal the bag and allow the ice cream base to cool completely. Once cooled, place the sealed Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to meld.
- Once the mixture has steeped, strain the contents into a medium bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much of the mixture as possible. I like to submerge the solids into the base and strain 3-4 times to extract all the flavor situations. But you do you, boo.
- Add the lime syrup and stir to incorporate. At this point you will notice the mixture has thickened significantly. That’s cool. It’s supposed to happen. Add the rum and stir the mixture until the rum is incorporated into the ice cream base.
- Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. When frozen and with the help of a spatula, pour the ice cream into a quart container with a tight fitting lid. Place in the freezer and allow to solidify completely, at least 3-4 hours. Or you can just spoon soft serve mojito ice cream in your mouth. It’s cool.
- Adapted from: We all Scream
