Banana Ice

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium saucepan
• •Food processor or mortar and pestle
• •20 cm fine-mesh sieve
• •Flexible spatula
• •Refractometer reading 0° to 50° Brix, or a syrup hydrometer marked in Baumé
• •2-quart ice-cream machine, or two shallow metal pans
• •1.5-litre freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the syrup

   Put the granulated sugar and water for the syrup in a medium saucepan. Warm gently, stirring only until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is perfectly clear; do not reduce or colour it. Cool completely, then stir in the maraschino liqueur so its cherry perfume remains fresh. Measure exactly 2⅓ cups (570 ml) of syrup and chill it thoroughly. If evaporation has left you a teaspoon short, replace only that lost volume with cold water.

2. 2

   Pound and macerate

   Pound or process the bananas into a completely smooth, dense pulp without beating in unnecessary air. Measure exactly 2⅓ cups (570 ml / 535 g) into a nonreactive bowl, then fold in the equal volume of cold Maraschino-flavoured syrup. Cover and refrigerate for two full hours. Keep the lemon aside for now. The maceration is not idle waiting; it carries the banana through the syrup and is one of the steps that must stay.

3. 3

   Add lemon and sieve

   After two hours, stir in the juice of all three lemons. Three is not a slip: frozen banana needs that hard acid or its sweetness loses all shape. Rub the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible spatula until only dry fibres remain. If the sieve clogs, work in smaller spoonfuls and scrape its underside frequently. Do not thin the pulp merely to hurry it through. Ça se rattrape with patience and a clean section of mesh.

4. 4

   Set the balance

   Check the sieved base with a syrup hydrometer or refractometer. It should register 20° to 21° Baumé, approximately 37° to 39° Brix on a home refractometer. If it reads higher, stir in cold water 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) at a time. If it reads lower, warm 2 tablespoons of the base just enough to dissolve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 12 g) superfine sugar, cool it completely, and return it to the bowl. Repeat only as needed. Never churn a warm correction into the base.

   Without an instrument, freeze a teaspoon of base on a cold metal saucer for ten minutes. It should scrape into supple crystals and melt cleanly. A hard, glassy sample needs a little sugar; a sticky sample reluctant to set needs a little water.
5. 5

   Churn until dense

   Chill the balanced base to 4°C / 40°F or colder, then churn in a fully frozen ice-cream machine until thick, pale, and softly ridged, usually 25 to 35 minutes. Use a 2-quart machine or divide the base between two smaller batches. If it remains loose after the machine begins warming, stop rather than stirring it warm: spread the mixture in a shallow metal pan, freeze until the edges firm, beat it smooth, and finish freezing.

   Without a machine, divide the base between two shallow metal pans. Freeze for 45 minutes, beat the firm edges into the softer centre, then repeat every 30 minutes until evenly frozen. The texture will be more crystalline, but the flavour remains true.
6. 6

   Firm and serve

   Pack the churned ice into a chilled 1.5-litre container, press parchment directly against the surface, and freeze for at least four hours. Let it stand in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes before scooping; maraschino keeps it supple, but a deep freeze still needs tempering. Serve in chilled coupes with no garnish to distract from the banana, cherry perfume, and lemon. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose bananas whose skins are well freckled and whose flesh smells strongly of banana without tasting fermented. Pale, firm fruit brings starch but little perfume, and no quantity of maraschino can supply what the banana lacks.
• •Maraschino means the clear cherry liqueur, not the red syrup from cocktail cherries. The liqueur should perfume the ice quietly; the red syrup changes both its flavour and its pale colour.
• •A refractometer is the useful home replacement for the pastry kitchen's saccharometer. Because fruit ripeness varies, the final reading matters more than blind faith in a fixed spoonful of corrective sugar or water.
• •For an outdoor meal, carry the sealed container in a well-packed insulated cooler and keep it out of direct sun. Chill the serving coupes too. Frozen desserts forgive conversation, but not a warm table.
• •Press parchment against the surface before closing the container. This limits coarse surface crystals and protects the banana perfume from other freezer aromas.

Advance Preparation

• •Freeze the machine bowl until solid, preferably overnight. A half-frozen bowl cannot pull heat from this sugar-rich base quickly enough.
• •The Maraschino-flavoured syrup can be prepared up to one week ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
• •Do not stretch the banana maceration overnight. At two hours, add the lemon, sieve the base, and churn it or refrigerate it for no more than four additional hours.
• •The finished ice can be made the day before serving. Its banana perfume is brightest within three days, though it keeps well covered for up to one week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)