A few months ago I was experimenting with different strawberry ice cream recipes. I found a recipe by King Arthur Flour that people raved about, and for good reason: the ice cream is delicious. I decided to adapt the recipe and substituted the strawberries with our super sweet Pirie and Rapoza mangos. I also elected to add some lilikoi juice to the recipe, which brought an additional level of flavor. The small amount of lilikoi juice is just enough to create a perfectly balanced tropical flavor.
I pureed the mango using my immersion blender. If you don’t yet have one, I highly recommend acquiring this handy kitchen tool. It is easy to clean and doesn’t take up nearly as much of your precious kitchen space as a full-sized blender does.
The fragrance of a fresh cut lilikoi is just fantastic. We grow yellow and purple lilikoi vines and like having the two varieties.
This mango-lilikoi ice cream is quite simple to make. I freeze the purée during mango season so that I’ll have it throughout the year to make ice cream whenever I’m craving homemade ice cream with a true mango and lilikoi flavor.
- 2 - 2½ pounds mango, peeled and pitted
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons vodka
- ⅓ cup lilikoi juice
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum, optional
- 2 cups half & half
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- Finely dice mango to make 1 cup. Combine diced mango with ¼ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons vodka. Stir gently to combine, cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.
- Coarsely chop remaining mango and puree with an immersion blender. Strain puree and measure out 1¼ cups.
- Whisk the xanthan gum with the remaining ¾ cup of sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the mango puree, lilikoi juice, half & half, and corn syrup, whisking until fully combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until very cold, about 2 hours. If you are short on time, freeze the mixture for about 15 minutes or until well chilled.
- Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. My Cuisinart takes about 25 minutes. In the last minute of churning add the diced mangos (drain and discard liquid first ). Transfer ice cream to a covered container and freeze for at least 3 hours before serving.