STINK IT UP Durian Gelato

Underarms, rotting garbage, stinky feet... 

These are just a few common descriptions for the oh-so-pungent smell of the Durian fruit. If you've never smelt or tasted Durian, then you're in for quite the experience! The smell is so bad, that it's even banned in some public places in Asia (where it is the most popular) and even hotels, as the smell travels through the air conditioning. 

Normally I would say that with Durian, you either love it or you hate it. But in the form of an ice cream, the lines become blurred. I did not enjoy eating Durian as a fruit...at all! I think this photo (my friend Jess calls, "the Durian face") sums it up very well (that's me on the left). 

The Durian Face

But as for the ice cream version, once you got past the smell, it was actually decent! The ice cream was predominantly made from coconut cream, which gave the flavour more balance. I added a touch of pandan essence (which, FYI, is NOT made from Panda, ANTON!) The pandaN essence gave the ice cream a much nicer colour than the original Durian colour (see the final image below) and a hint of delicious pandan flavour. Check out my radioactive-looking Pandan gelato I made previously - here. 

Durian is not easily found fresh here, in Australia. You can usually get the frozen variety (in its husk or just the flesh in a tray) from Asian grocery stores, which is what I used for my ice cream. And you can trust me when I tell you it did not lose any of it's flavour or fragrance.

STINK IT UP. DURIAN ICE CREAM

Recipe based on Summer Quencher's  Es Puter Ice Cream

Makes about 1.5 litres

Ingredients:

• 3 tins of coconut cream (400mL) (I used 1 tin of coconut cream and 2 tins of coconut milk)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pandan extract
• 150 g sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch, diluted with 3 tbsp water
• 200 g durian, roughly minced

Method:

• Mix coconut cream, salt, and sugar in a saucepan, then cook over medium heat  and keep stirring until boiling.
• Add the diluted cornstarch and mix well. Remove from heat.
• Sacrifice a blender that you don't mind getting too stinky and blend your durian until smooooooth.
• Add the pandan essence and durian to cream mixture.
• Use an ice cream maker on desired setting to process the mixture and churn.
• Clean everything very thoroughly and air out your house!!!

But I don't have an ice cream maker!

Never fear!

Follow the Method listed above and put the mixture in a container with a lid, then leave the mixture in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. Mix, then move the container to the freezer, mixing well every hour for the next 3 hours to get air into the ice cream.