How to make coconut ice cream: 3 keys that you cannot ignore

You've come this far to find out how to make coconut ice cream... Let's get to it!

Coconut ice cream is one of the most sought after in any ice cream parlor in the world . However, very few know how to make coconut ice cream, even if it is a strictly tropical fruit, that is, whose plants usually grow in the geographical areas included between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Its botanical name is Cocos Nocifera . It is derived from the Latin that reveals the formation of a walnut, whose interior is provided with a white pulp with high nutritional properties, recognized since ancient times by humans and in particular due to the high content of saturated vegetable fat that together with sugars, fibers vegetables and a small amount of protein make coconut meat a very complete food .

In ice cream parlors it is usually made in different ways, although there are very few establishments that really know how to make coconut ice cream naturally. Here are the 3 keys to keep in mind!

1) Most of the ice cream parlors that are called “artisanal”

They systematically use industrial products to develop this type of recipe. As a flavoring part, they resort to the so-called " pastas ", in most cases from Italy (where, by the way, there is not a single coconut tree). They are made with a high percentage of coconut aroma (that is, its chemical reconstruction) and, in the best of cases, with a small amount of coconut meat and coconut snuff , so that the consumer has the sensation of eating coconut when he finds a piece in his mouth.

In their catalogs, the industry (all those factories that produce semi-finished products for artisanal ice cream parlors) usually put coconut paste among the creams. This is so due to the fact that this paste is normally added to a "white" base - a dairy-colored liquid mix that they have previously prepared in a pasteurizer and that characterizes the structural part of the ice cream, that which is not directly related to the ice cream. flavor you want to give the ice cream. Obviously there are pastes of different qualities , with different results on the finished product, which each ice cream maker will choose based on their taste and the quality they want to give their product.

2) If we are not willing to use industrial aromatic pastes

We will have to recover a good processed coconut meat on the market , ready to be used and mixed with the functional part of my ice cream that I will also develop personally or through a semi-processed industrial product.

This pulp can be liquid or semi-liquid and powder. Both can give excellent results, as long as their quality and aromatic intensity is one of the best. Many times the prices are quite high, especially in countries where coconut is imported, or where it is produced but not processed (think that there are countries that export tons of coconut nuts and then import pulp and related products processed in third parties countries).

Coconut meat can also give excellent results. Years ago I tried one from the Philippines and it was outstanding!

3) Final decision when making coconut ice cream

At the end of all that speech, we came to the conclusion of how to prepare coconut ice cream .

First you have to decide how you will do it. That is, you can prepare it with products that do not contemplate the use of dairy or, as in many ice cream parlors and in the logic of the industry, adding dairy products such as:

• Cow milk
• Milk or cream
• Milk powder

Now I ask you: are you going to flavor with industrial aromas naturally or will you mix a little coconut meat and a little aroma?

The choice will depend on many factors. Professional ice cream makers usually resort to Tharp's scheme , one of our great teachers who well identified everything that can influence the development of an ice cream recipe.

Coconut ice cream made in the form of Sorbet is generally more popular . It does not contain dairy products inside, taking advantage of the saturated fat of the coconut meat, its fiber content and closing the recipe with coconut milk that, apart from providing functional ingredients, greatly reinforces and rounds off the flavor. A recipe with almost 60% products derived from the coconut , with an intense aromatic bouquet and a firm personality so that the ice cream maintains its presence in the showcase.

Obviously, you should not close the door on a Coconut Cream, that is, an ice cream made with dairy products. However it is done, I would say that it is surely always an ice cream with a fat percentage of not less than 10%, preferably also using 20% ​​unsaturated fat over the total fat, a sweetening power of around 15%. and a moderate touch of stabilizer and emulsifier to homogenize the solution.

So now you know what keys you should follow when making coconut ice cream in a highly professional way. If you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us .