This Bounty ice cream, inspired by the famous chocolate bar, combines sweet coconut with grated milk chocolate and just a hint of rum for a truly tropical vibe. This coconut chocolate ice cream is a delicious way to enjoy the taste of paradise in your own home.
My roasted pineapple ice cream is another tropical delight for a hot day.
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Transport your tastebuds to the tropics with this creamy Bounty ice cream. This frozen treat is infused with the delicate flavour of coconut mingled with sweet milk chocolate and a teey-tiny hint of rum.
This dreamy creamy coconut chocolate ice cream can be served in cones, bowls or glasses. It can also be dressed up in sundaes or even served with tropical desserts such as pineapple crumble. It's a pretty versatile ice.
Of course, I am aware that Bounty bar ice creams on sticks do exist in the supermarket freezer department, but homemade ice cream is the better way to indulge in my view. And you can always convert your homemade coconut & chocolate ice cream into a treat on a stick - just follow my recipe for chocolate dipped ice cream bars using Bounty ice cream in place of the salted caramel ice cream.
Love a bit of chocolate in your ice cream? Take a look at my dark chocolate ice cream recipe and my Nutella ice cream recipe.
Why this Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream is Worth Making
- The flavour is a luscious blend of creamy coconut and rich chocolate with just a hint of tropical rum
- As it's a custard based recipe, the ice cream produced is deliciously creamy
- A sprinkling of grated chocolate and desiccated coconut add a little bite and excitement to the final consistency though
- Additional rum can be added to make the the boozy flavour more obvious if desired
- It's possible to make this bounty ice cream even without a dedicated ice cream churner
- Homemade ice cream is the ultimate make-ahead dessert
- This recipe easily feeds six people
- And it shows more dedication than just whipping a store-bought carton out of the freezer. This makes it a great way to show diners you made the effort for them
Ingredients notes
There are some important points to note about the ingredients for this coconut chocolate ice cream. Pay careful attention to them and make any substitutions wisely to avoid your ice-cream ending up too solid to scoop.
First of all, there's a triple-whammy of coconut ingredients in this Bounty ice cream recipe: coconut milk, creamed coconut and desiccated coconut. Together they work to deliver a great coconut flavour plus a little bite to this frozen treat. Use coconut milk from a carton (<5% fat) rather than canned coconut milk which is much higher in fat.
From my early efforts of making ice cream using coconut milk several years ago, I know that coconut milk can freeze quite solid. Keen to ensure this did not happen to this lovely Bounty ice cream, I've included a couple of special ingredients to help keep this ice soft, scoopable and a delight to eat. Those two ingredients are honey and rum.
A form of sugar is an essential ingredient in most ice cream recipes. Not only does it sweeten the mixture but it also makes ice cream softer because it lowers the freezing point of the custard base.
However, honey is much more effective than sugar at lowering the freezing point of ice cream because it contains sugars with smaller molecules than those of regular sugar. It's therefore much better at creating a softer textured ice cream and for this reason, I have included some in this recipe.
Mindful that honey can be quite a dominant flavour, I've opted for a combination of honey and sugar to sweeten and soften this ice cream. Honey is definitely not a prevailing flavour though and it does not overshadow the headline acts in this coconut chocolate ice cream recipe.
I also slipped in a drop of rum because adding a little alcohol is another sneaky way to lower the freezing point of the ice cream custard base, thereby helping to ensure a soft textured homemade ice cream is achieved. Again, the flavour is very mild and does not detract from the real stars of the show, coconut and chocolate.
Step by step instructions
This Bounty ice cream recipe uses a custard base and must be churned. However, it is possible to make it even if you do not own a dedicated ice cream maker. Instructions are given for making the custard base and for churning the custard into ice cream using a machine and also by hand.
Follow the instructions below and you'll soon have a pot of this coconut chocolate ice cream sitting in your freezer.
Make the Custard Base
1. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt and honey together for several minutes until pale and thick
2. Put the coconut milk into a pan and heat to scalding then pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, stirring continously as it is added
3. Return to a low heat and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and stir in the creamed coconut
4. Pour the custard into a bowl and press a sheet of clingfilm over the top to prevent a skin from forming. Cool completely then chill for at least 4 hours (but preferably overnight)
5. Put the desiccated coconut and grated chocolate into the fridge 1 hour before churning if using an ice cream maker or 1 hour before the last beating if churning by hand
6. When ready to churn remove the custard from the fridge and stir in the double cream and rum
Churning by Machine
1. Pour the custard mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions
2. When almost fully churned, with the ice cream maker motor still in action, sprinkle the desiccated coconut and chocolate gradually into the churning bowl
3. Keep on churning until the ice cream is firm enough to hold its shape. Scoop it into a freezer-proof container, cover with waxed paper or baking parchment and freeze for 2-3 hours until fully set
Churning by Hand
1. Pour the custard mixture into a large freezer-proof bowl, cover and put it in the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours
2. Remove from the freezer and, working quickly, use electric beaters to beat the ice cream until the ice crystals are uniform. Cover and place back in the freezer
3. Repeat this process 6-8 more times at 1-hour intervals. The better the ice cream texture will be the more the process is repeated
4. On the last beating, beat as usual then sprinkle the coconut and chocolate into the bowl. Stir through until well distributed and then return to the freezer for another hour
5. Once fully churned either serve straight away or transfer to a freezer-proof container, cover with parchment and freeze for several hours until firm
Expert tips
- Use the correct ingredients. This recipe calls for cartoned coconut milk (the type you might pour over breakfast cereal in place of regular milk). Do not use canned coconut milk as it has a much higher fat content and is unsuitable for this ice cream recipe
- It's okay to add extra rum for a more pronounced alcohol flavour. But don't overdo it else the ice cream will not fully set. Add no more than 4 tablespoons of rum in total
- If churning by hand start first thing in the morning and set a timer to remind yourself to churn every hour until it is ready. If ice cream is left too long between churns an icy and hard texture will result
- I did test this recipe using coconut liqueur. As it's only half the alcohol strength of rum, much more was needed to make a difference to the texture. Despite this, the taste of it was barely discernable. I honestly don't recommend using it - white rum is the better option
- Don't forgt to put the desiccated coconut and grated chocolate in the fridge for an hour before adding to the partially churned ice cream. It will help to reduce the difference in temperature between them and minimise the amount the ice cream melts by when they are added in. Ultimately, the finished ice cream will have a better texture as a result
- Once churned I recommend covering the top of the ice cream loosely with parchment to avoid freezer burn
- Take out of the freezer 10-15 minutes before you would like to serve it. This allows the ice cream to soften slightly and become much easier to scoop
Frequently asked questions
This ice cream is not vegan. Although it does contain coconut milk, it also contains double cream, honey and eggs.
If you need a vegan version try this coconut ice cream recipe and add in some desiccated coconut and vegan dark chocolate to create your Bounty ice cream.
You can certainly leave it out although the texture of the ice cream will be somewhat harder. You may need to leave it out of the freezer slightly longer for it to soften before it is scoopable if you do leave out the rum.
Of course. Both milk and dark chocolate work very well in this recipe. I do, however, find white chocolate a little too sweet alongside the other ingredients, so would caution against using it in this recipe.
There are several possible reasons why an ice cream batter may not freeze when churned in an ice cream maker. It could be that the churning bowl was not sufficiently frozen at the time the ingredients were added. Alternatively, it's possible that the custard was insufficiently chilled at the time it was poured into the churning bowl.
The best resolution is to transfer the mixture back to the fridge, clean and refreeze the ice-cream churner bowl and try again 24 hours later.
An inferior texture is often the result of insufficient churning - ensure that the churner is allowed to run until the ice cream reaches a relatively firm soft scoop stage. Add in the coconut and chocolate and churn again until transforming from soft scoop to firmer. And if you are churning the old-fashioned way (by hand) don't leave more than 60 minutes between each churn.
The age of the ice cream can also be a factor - aim to eat homemade ice cream and sorbets within 2-3 weeks.
Finally, never let the ice cream sit outside of the freezer for too long. Serve what you need to and put it back as soon as possible. If ice cream is allowed to melt too much and is then refrozen, the texture will be adversely affected.
More ice cream recipes
If you have tried this coconut chocolate ice cream recipe please give it a rating or leave a comment - I love to hear how you get along with my creations.
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Bounty Ice Cream - Coconut & Chocolate
Ingredients
- 300 ml Coconut milk unsweetened and <5% fat from a carton (not canned)
- 60 g Creamed coconut not coconut cream
- 4 Egg yolks large, free-range
- 75 g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoon Honey
- 2 tablespoon White rum such as Bacardi
- 300 ml Double cream heavy cream
- 30 g Desiccated coconut
- 60 g Milk chocolate grated
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Make the Custard Base
- Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt and honey together for several minutes until pale and thick
- Put the coconut milk into a pan and heat to scalding then pour it over the egg mixture, stirring continuously as it is added to prevent the egg from cooking and turning lumpy
- Return to a low heat and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and stir the creamed coconut in
- Pour into a bowl and press a sheet of clingfilm over the top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool completely, then transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight
- Put the desiccated coconut and grated chocolate into the fridge 1 hour before churning if using an ice cream maker or 1 hour before the last beating if churning by hand
- When ready to churn remove the custard from the fridge and stir in the double cream and rum. Either churn by machine or churn by hand
Churning by Machine
- When ready to churn pour the custard mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions
- When almost fully churned, with the ice cream maker motor still in action, sprinkle the desiccated coconut and chocolate gradually into the churning bowl
- Keep on churning until the ice cream is firm enough to hold its shape then scoop into a freezer-proof container, cover with waxed paper or baking parchment and freeze for 2-3 hours until fully set
Churning by Hand
- Pour the custard mixture into a large freezer-proof bowl, cover and put it in the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours. After this time the sides should be beginning to freeze, but the centre will be soft and slushy
- Remove from the freezer and, working quickly, use electric beaters to beat the ice cream until the ice crystals are uniform. Cover and place back in the freezer
- Repeat this process 6-8 more times at 1-hour intervals. The more this process is repeated the better the ice cream texture will be. Remember to put the coconut and chocolate into the fridge 1 hour before the final beating
- On the last beating, beat as usual then sprinkle the coconut and chocolate into the bowl and stir through until well distributed. Return to the freezer for another hour
- Once fully churned either serve straight away or transfer to a freezer-proof container, cover with parchment and freeze for several hours until firm
Notes
- Use the correct ingredients. This recipe calls for cartoned coconut milk (the type you might pour over breakfast cereal in place of regular milk). Do not use canned coconut milk as it has a much higher fat content and is unsuitable for this ice cream recipe
- It's okay to add extra rum for a more pronounced alcohol flavour. But don't overdo it else the ice cream will not fully set. Add no more than 4 tablespoons of rum in total
- You can also leave out the alcohol although the texture of the ice cream will be somewhat harder. You may need to leave it out of the freezer slightly longer to soften before it is scoopable if you do leave out the rum
- I did test this recipe using coconut liqueur. As it's only half the alcohol strength of rum, much more was needed to make a difference to the texture. Despite this, the taste of it was barely discernable. I honestly don't recommend using it - white rum is the better option
- If churning by hand start first thing in the morning and set a timer to remind yourself to churn every hour until it is ready. If ice cream is left too long between each churn an icy and hard texture will result
- Both milk and dark chocolate work very well in this recipe. I do, however, find white chocolate a little too sweet alongside the other ingredients, so would caution against using it in this recipe
- Don't forgt to put the desiccated coconut and grated chocolate in the fridge for an hour before adding to the partially churned ice cream. It will help to reduce the difference in temperature between them and minimise the amount the ice cream melts by when they are added in. Ultimately, the finished ice cream will have a better texture as a result
- Once churned I recommend covering the top of the ice cream loosely with parchment to avoid freezer burn
- Take out of the freezer 10-15 minutes before you would like to serve it. This allows the ice cream to soften slightly and become much easier to scoop
Jane Coupland says
Coconut and ice cream were made for each other. The sprinkling of chocolate is the icing on the cake.