Bananas cooked in palm sugar ice cream

HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) as we all know has a notoriety that has made us all tread carefully around it. Does that mean eating cane sugar, refined or otherwise is like eating health food?

Do you remember the time when unsaturated fat entered our consciousness? Food companies who are never far behind in lulling the public into a fall sense of security immediately jumped into the wagon with claims of 'unsaturated fat free food'. I am not an authority on the topic but I bet they compensated by increasing the percentage of sugar. By now we all know fat free anything has a higher percentage of sugar than their full fat counterparts. Fat free makes us feel less guilty. There is nothing wrong with that as long as we fully know what we are getting in return.

palm sugar crystals

Now it is the turn of the cane sugar, with processed food packages claiming that they contains cane sugar and are HFCS free. Would HFCS have stopped us from buying Oreo cookie or the claim that it is made with cane sugar have induced you into buying Oreos if you were the type who did buy them regualarly? My kids would want them either way. That is the bottomline.

bananas cooking in palm sugar

I can't deny the fact the I am into this cane sugar fad in a big way.
Is cane sugar all that better compared to HFCS? Probably not is the verdict. Sugar in any form when eaten in large quantities is bad. We all knew that right? For a sweet craving it is better to eat fruits. We also knew that! This article, a consumer report insight - Which type of sweetener is best? is a good read. Not too long just to the point.

I had bananas and some palm sugar crystals and memory of seeing a reipe for roasted banana ice cream on Anita'a A Mad Tea Party. This was an ice cream that came to my mind immediately after I acquired my ice cream maker.

I would say the roasted bananas in the sugar is a delicious topping on any ice cream just by itself. If you are in go ahead and make the ice cream, it is rich and creamy even without all the cream. I stuck to the half and half and 2% milk like for the strawberry ice cream.

In a cup!

or in a cone!

Banana Ice Cream
1. 2 Medium sized well ripened bananas
2. 1 cup palm sugar crystals + 1/2 cup water
3. 1 1/2 cups half and half
4. 1 1/2 cups of 2% milk
5. 1/4 raw cane sugar
6. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method
1. In a sauce pan combine palm sugar crystal and 1/2 cup of sugar (or enough water to cover the sugar) and heat till the sugar completely melts.
2. Filter the sugar through the cheese cloth to remove impurities and palm leaves that get left behind (if you are using regular sugar this step might not be necessary). Transfer the sugar back to the sauce pan
3. Slice the banana and add to the sugar and cook it till the banana is cooked and soft. Blend it with a hand blender. Leave a few pieces slightly bigger.
4. Cool the banana mixture completely and mash it or break it apart using a hand blender
5. Combine the milk, half and half, vanilla extract and the rest of the sugar and let it start churning in the ice cream maker (for about 25-30 minutes)
6. Add in the banana and let it combine and churn for another 5 minutes.

Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze overnight for 6-8 hours.

Note:
Using half and half and 2% milk compared to full milk and cream gives you a slightly lighter ice cream. The banana made up for the lack of fat.