Cajun Gingerbread Ice Cream

Ice cream may seem an odd holiday choice to some. If you have ever experienced a muggy Louisiana Christmas then you know how welcome this sweet treat is. Ice Cream and Christmas hold some precious memories for me so I decided to combine these two favorites with a little trick using Acadianas’ favorite Evangeline Maid bread to make it simpler.

Many of my holiday memories involve running in and out of my Tantes’ house. My cousins and I getting fussed at for the constant slamming of the screen door. Warm Christmases on porches with the noises of screaming kids, slamming screen doors and slightly inebriated adults fussing and laughing at the same time. Through all of this, you could hear the constant chug of the ice cream machine hard at work while tucked away on a far corner of the porch.

We stalked that machine waiting for it to bless us with its offerings scooped into our brightly colored aluminum ice cream cups. Who else remembers how serious the battle was to get your favorite color? Oh, the days where the biggest battle you had was to get the sole pink one before your cousin did.

We all gathered on the steps with hands moving constantly to avoid the freezing fingers caused by the minute freezing ice cream touches the aluminum. Those vintage bowls are the definition of pleasure and pain at the same time. Some of us eating it so fast that it was immediately followed by brain freeze causing to lie flat on the porch deck until it subsided and you could go beg for more., others taking savoring bites or like me my fellow ice cream soup makers. The ice cream had finally given the adults a much-needed break from their feral offspring.

Every once in awhile Tante would be canaille and make us savory ice cream. I am sure the grown-ups were just as anxious to see our reactions to spinach or garlic ice cream as we were to finally get our daily treat. The answer to the question “ Slam that door one more time and see what happens?” has been revealed.

Now I have my own house full of shrieks and slamming screen doors. I don’t have the time or patience for that old faithful ice cream maker to satisfy my urge for homemade ice cream. When I found out about this no-churn ice cream made with sliced bread as a thickener I knew I had to try it. Traditionally this is an Indian dish called Kulfi. I switched to Evangeline Maid bread and changed the spices and flavors to some of our local favorites and then I had it. An Ice cream that tastes like slow-churned with only a few ingredients that you just put in the freezer and go on with your day.

Once it’s frozen, just take it out of the freezer and let it soften a bit. Once it softens a bit it will gently scoop out and have a soft velvety texture. Play with spices, extracts, and fruits to make your own personal favorite flavor. Shoot, maybe try the savory version who knows now that we are all grown up we may like it. Just make sure you get to the kitchen first before someone steals the coveted pink ice cream bowl and you are stuck with a scratched-up red one that no one wants. Scoop up a nice serving in your favorite bowl and head to your porch giving that screen door a nice slam on the way out, it’s your door now you can do what you want.