Easy As Pie...Only Ice Cream...

I currently have a lot of overripe fruit in the house. And after having to toss a pint of molding raspberries, I decided it was about time I did something about it, starting with the progressively browning freckled bananas on my countertop. Ice cream fiend that I am, of course the first thing that came to mind was banana ice cream.

I came across a no churn ice cream by David Lebovitz that was chocolate in flavor, but with added sweetness and texture from bananas, which also served as the fat in the ice cream. [Sidenote: I bought my almost-mother-in-law an ice cream maker and his book, The Perfect Scoop, for her birthday and have since considered stealing the book several times] His recipe got me thinking. I'm not really a fan of chocolate ice cream (or chocolate flavored things in general, although I love a bar of chocolate itself).

So I thought, "well, bananas...hmmm....they taste good with caramel...and...Oh! Banana Cream Pie! I love banana cream pie! And caramel is so much better with sea salt... and some white chocolate could stand in for the chocolate...but I don't have caramel and it's too hot to play with sugar... I do have dulce de leche... Eh, we'll try it." And 5 minutes later, licking the spoon after putting the ice cream base in the freezer: "Mmmm... this was such a good idea. I must be brilliant."


And so my next crazy icy concoction was born. And ooh is it good! It is couldn't be easier. The only piece of equipment required is a blender, although a food processor would work fine and I suppose that really and truly, a thorough mashing with a fork might even do the trick! So forgive me for talking to myself (and admiring my own ingenuity) and have some pie...I mean ice cream...

Salted Dulce De Leche Banana Cream Pie Ice Cream


3/4 cup lowfat milk
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 oz. white chocolate chips
4 oz. dulce de leche

3 medium overripe bananas
2/3 cup Bailey's Irish Creme
1 Tbsp dark rum

5 large marshmallows, torn into small chunks

2 Tbsp Heath Bar toffee bits
8 vanilla wafers, broken into coarse chunks

Heat milk in a small saucepan until it simmers. Remove from heat and stir in salt, chocolate and dulce de leche.
Let sit for 5 minutes before stirring to make sure everything melts into the hot milk.

Combine bananas, liquors and milk mixture in a blender. Blend well to combine. Add in marshmallow bits and freeze until almost set. Fold in toffee and cookies and let freeze completely (about 4 hours of freezing for soft serve-pictured here, 6-8 for hard ice cream).