By Krysten Chambrot
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- 4(92)
- Notes
- Read community notes
It’s not Christmas in a Puerto Rican household without coquito, a deeply creamy coconut and rum co*cktail. Coquito recipes vary widely, but most include coconut milk, coconut cream, rum and sweetened condensed milk. Some have egg yolks, some don’t. Others skip the cinnamon in favor of nutmeg. This adaptation, inspired by an ice cream sold at Torico Ice Cream in Jersey City, N.J., skips the evaporated and condensed milks, which can weigh down a batter. Instead, it gets sweetness and heft from egg yolks, coconut cream and just enough sugar. Alcohol can also make freezing ice cream tricky, so rum extract steps in here for the traditional white rum, keeping it boozy without affecting the texture.
Featured in: Coquito, the Puerto Rican Holiday Drink, Available in Frozen Form
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Ingredients
Yield:4 cups
- 1(15-ounce) can cream of coconut, preferably Coco López
- 1(15-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
- ½cup heavy cream
- 4teaspoons rum extract, plus more to taste
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¾teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 4large egg yolks
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
261 calories; 19 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 21 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 36 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Prepare your ice cream machine, freezing the insert bowl if needed.
Step
2
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream of coconut, coconut milk, heavy cream, rum extract, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cream of coconut melts down and all the ingredients are incorporated, making sure it does not come to a boil, about 5 minutes.
As the coconut mixture cooks, place the egg yolks in a small bowl, add ¼ cup of the coconut mixture to the yolks and whisk quickly and vigorously. (This will temper, or bring up the temperature, of the eggs, so they don’t set.) Pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining coconut mixture, and immediately start whisking over medium heat. Continue whisking until it thickens and tastes intense, about 2 minutes. If you dip a spoon in the custard, it should coat the back. Run your finger through that coating; the stripe should hold for 3 seconds. Stir in more rum extract if you’d like.
Step
4
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a food storage container or a bowl with a lid that can hold at least 1 quart. Strain the ice cream base into the container, to catch any pieces of egg that may have solidified, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Step
5
Set up your ice cream maker, add the ice cream base to its bowl and churn according to manufacturers’ instructions. It should increase in volume and look thick and creamy, the consistency of soft ice cream. Serve the ice cream right out of the machine, or for a better, more traditional texture (think store-bought ice cream), transfer the churned ice cream to a food storage container and freeze for 4 to 5 more hours.
Ratings
4
out of 5
92
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SC
Beware of cans of "cream of coconut" that are not Coco Lopez! That's what we did and it turns out that there was barely any sugar in it, so our final ice cream was not nearly sweet enough. We tried to sprinkle some sugar on top, but as our daughter said "It's not very good." No issues with hardening and we loved the cocount-cinnamon flavor, but this ended up being a big bummer. Maybe we'll try again in the future, but the recipe should have had a better warning regarding that particular product.
Su
Fat, sugar, and alcohol make ice cream softer. Water makes it harder. This recipe is incredibly soft because it contains so much fat -- easily rectified without touching the specific coconut flavors by replacing heavy cream with milk and cutting back on the egg yolks. I'm guessing, but I suspect that eliminating the egg yolks and using whatever milk you keep in the house should even allow for adding a bit of actual rum without preventing the mix from freezing.
Coconutey Flavor Akin To Tembleque
Really soft texture and nice coconutey flavor. A friend made a valid point that with the added spice it tastes a bit more like Tembleque ice cream than coquito, now that she pointed that out I agree. Tembleque is a Puerto Rican dessert made around Christmas. Now I can't eat this without thinking "mm nice Tembleque flavor".
Isabel
As has been commented, the recipe could explain the difference between cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez, Coco Goya) which is extremely sweet, and coconut cream. I used cream of coconut. It wasn't even soft serve out of my ice cream maker, and it set up in the freezer, overnight, with a softer texture than regular ice cream. I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be but it tasted good! I added extra rum extract and also some coconut extract.
Monica
First of all, coconut cream and cream of coconut are two very different things! I took a bet that the recipe (versus the description) was correct, because cream of coconut would provide the sugar component for the ice cream. I'm not sure what the overnight refrigeration does. Even after freezing overnight, the ice cream has a softer than typical texture. I didn't love the rum extract flavor, and would do much less next time, or try to incorporate actual rum instead.
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