Mexican Fried Ice Cream

Anyone up for some fried ice cream? Easy to make, as long as you've got a freezer that will freeze the ice cream really really hard, and it really hits the spot at the end of a hot summer day. If you've never ordered this at a Mexican restaurant, you've been missing out on something pretty good.

There's at least 8 hours of freezing time involved in it, so start the process early in the day (before you head out fishing) or even the day before.

There are two absolute rules you must follow carefully for success:

1. Make sure the ice cream balls are frozen solid as rocks before you fry them. If you get impatient and try to fry them before they're cold enough, you will make a horrible mess and be very sorry.
2. Make sure the coating completely covers them, with no ice cream showing through.

Keeping those two things in mind, here is the recipe:

Mexican Fried Ice Cream

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 quarts highest quality vanilla ice cream (or flavor or your choice)
  
• 4 Cups cornflakes
  
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/4 Cups sugar
  
• 2 eggs

Vegetable oil for frying

• 1 cup Honey or Caramel Sauce or Chocolate Sauce (or half a cup each of any two toppings)
  
• 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
  
• 8 maraschino cherries, with stems
  
• shaved chocolate, chopped nuts or other toppings as you wish (optional)

Directions:

Scoop 8 equal size balls from the ice cream (about 3/4 cup each). Use your hands if necessary to form nice round balls.

Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer until frozen solid, at least 2 hours, preferably longer.

When the ice cream balls are frozen good and hard, place the cornflakes in a Ziploc-type bag, seal the bag, and coarsely crush, using your hands or a rolling pin, or whatever works best for you. You can crumb them in a blender, but don't get them too fine; you want a bit of texture left.

Pour the crushed cornflakes onto a large plate (a pie plate works well for me) and add the cinnamon and sugar; mix well.

Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat them with a fork until frothy.

Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer. Dip each ball in the beaten egg, then roll in the crumbs.

Press the crumbs into the balls with your hands, making sure no ice cream shows through.

Dip the coated balls into the egg mixture a second time and roll them in the crumbs again, pressing the crumbs firmly against the original coating.

Place the coated balls back on the baking sheet and return them to the freezer for at least 8 hours or until they are frozen solid. I mean really frozen SOLID. Note that once the balls are frozen solid, you can put them in a sealed freezer bag and keep them frozen for up to two months.

When ready to serve, preheat the deep fryer to 400°.

Place the ice cream balls in the hot oil, no more than 2 or 3 at a time, turning occasionally until they are crisp, no more than 1-2 minutes.

Remove to a paper-towel lined baking sheet to drain.

To serve: place a fried ice cream ball in a serving bowl, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of your choice of sauce. Add a scoop of whipped cream and top it all off with a maraschino cherry. Serve immediately, stand back and prepare yourself for compliments.

Buen provecho!

(picture at http://rptides.blogspot.com/2009/07/mexican-fried-ice-cream-... )

Baked Alaska.

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg Baked Alaska.

It's for reals, lol. It takes time, but actual preparation time is no more than coating chicken for frying, really, once you've formed the ice cream balls. After that, it's just waiting for them to freeze. It's quite simple.

The big thing is to make sure the ice cream balls are seriously frozen. If you rush that step you'll get a big mess because the ice cream will melt in the hot oil and it will all fall apart. When you do it right the ice cream is just starting to get soft on the outside layer when you slot them out of the oil. Make just one for yourself, and the frying should take no more than 30 seconds or so.

The fun thing is really getting creative with it. Use pistachio ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce and sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts over the whipped cream. Or roll Chocolate Chip ice cream balls in chocolate cookie crumbs instead of corn flakes and garnish with mandarin orange slices instead of a maraschino cherry.

If you've got kids around, they love to help form the ice cream balls and roll them in the crumbs. Make a lot of them, put 'em in a bag in the freezer once they're well frozen and save them for a special occasion. Think of them as big, sweet frozen dessert meatballs.