Banana Ice Cream

A couple weeks ago, bananas were on sale at our local grocery store, and I did what any banana loving person would do . . . bought not two or three - but four bunches. We ate bananas for breakfast and snacks, made two batches of banana bread to freeze and still had one bunch leftover. I also had cream left from making ice cream. Luckily, I stumbled across a recipe for banana ice cream that called for very (very, very!) ripe bananas and cream - and best of all, did not require cooking. Perfect!

The ice cream tastes exactly as you would expect it to - like bananas and cream. It has an unmistakable banana flavor - but when combined with toppings (like chocolate sauce and toffee peanuts) it's not overwhelming. To be absolutely honest, I'm not going to sneaking little bites of this ice cream from the freezer . . . but I think if a few more "banana split" toppings were added it would make a wonderful summer treat!

Banana Ice Cream
2 cups pureed very ripe bananas (4 medium)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

Stir together banana puree, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt. Let stand for a few minutes; stir again to make sure sugar has dissolved. Chill mixture for 30 minutes. Freeze according to instructions for your ice cream machine. Transfer to an airtight, freezer proof container and freeze until ice cream is hard enough to scoop.
- Recipe adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich