Faux Fried Ice Cream Ball

This is not a direct replacement for a traditionally fried ice cream ball. To be honest most things that try to and say they taste just like the real thing usually fall far short of the hype, I'm looking at you cauliflower pizza crust. But with that said this dessert gives you a good alternative and its super easy to make at home. The crisp coconut and almonds gives you a nice mouth feel and the texture is reminiscent of the fried ice cream ball. The flavors aren't exactly the same but the delicious combination of coconut, almond and cinnamon is hard to dispute. I am no way saying its better than a fried ice cream ball because that is a decadence that's on another level a level but its definitely worth trying at home.

1 cup Shredded Coconut

1/4 cup Almond Slivers

2-3 scoops of your favorite Vanilla Ice Cream

2-3 Dashes of Cinnamon

Chocolate Syrup

First we have to toast the shredded coconut and almonds. I preheat my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I use a parchment paper lined cookie sheet to toast the coconut and almonds. I found that I get more even browning when I use parchment paper and the clean up is a cinch because once I'm done with the toasting I remove the parchment paper and throw it away and the pan stays clean underneath.

Evenly spread out 1 cup of shredded coconut on the parchment paper and then roughly chop the 1/4 cup almond slivers. You don't want almond pieces that are too large because you want them to coat the ice cream ball uniformly. That is to say you don't want large almond pieces poking out the side of the ice cream ball, we are going for good mouth feel and texture and a nice crunch. If you are going to error though error on the smaller is better than bigger side of things.

Once the almonds are chopped add them to the coconut and mix them until it looks like a uniform blend.

Why use slivered almonds? I found that since the almond slivers are approximately the same thickness as the shredded coconut that they toast at about the same rate so you get a more consistent coating as opposed to chopping up whole almonds.

*Disclaimer: The amounts I use are not set in stone, you can use more coconut or more almonds or no almonds you really can't go wrong with this dessert as long as you make enough coating to coat the ice cream.

While the oven preheats I take my ice cream scoop and make, in this case, 3 ice cream balls. The balls are about the size of the ice cream scoop or what would be a normal-ish scoop of ice cream. I don't like making ice cream balls too large because I feel like the coating to ice cream ratio would be off so I keep them relatively average size. I form the balls as best I can and leave them in the ice cream container to set up and place them back in the freezer.

Shout out to Blue Bell Ice Cream their slogan is "The best ice cream in the country" and I would have to agree. You get a full half gallon of ice cream for about $6 and its delicious.

Once the oven reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit place the coconut and almond mixture in the oven for 3-4 minutes. When your timer goes off check the browning of the mixture. Now would be a good time to mix the coconut and almond mixture in the pan so you get some even browning. The second picture shows how much browning has occurred at the 4 minute mark it still needs a little more time. So I put it back in the oven for another 2 minutes. After my second timer goes off I check it again, and if it needs a little more time I give it a little more time, 30 seconds at a time. Coconut can go from golden brown and delicious to "we need to open the windows and turn on the fan" in no time. So just keep an eye on it and mix it in the pan; pay attention to any hot spots in your oven as well. Once the mixture is nice and golden brown remove it from the oven and remove the parchment paper from the pan, you don't want the coconut to continue to cook on the hot pan. I put my parchment paper mixture on a cooling rack to cool.

At this point your mouth will start to water because of the wonderful toasted coconut aroma that is permeating your kitchen. We most be strong and hold steadfast until the coconut and almond coating cools it won't take that long maybe 10-15 minutes if that. While it is cooling I lightly sprinkle some powdered cinnamon on the mixture. I go for a light dusting nothing to heavy you want the hint of cinnamon not a mouth full of it. I mix the cinnamon in to the mixture with a spatula and let it cool to room temperature. Make sure to keep the mixture spread out in an even layer this will help it cool faster as well as prevent clumping.

When the coating cools, place it in a deep bowl. Then take your pre-formed ice cream balls from the freezer and evenly coat them with the mixture. I wore a glove for this as it can get a little messy and its just more sanitary. To coat the ball press the ice cream firmly in to the mixture and turn it and press it in to the coating again. Repeat this until the entire ice cream ball is coated. I like to make sure all of the ice cream is coated and then I usually go for another layer of coating just repeating the same process of firmly pushing the ball in to the coating. Ideally you don't want to see any of the ice cream through the coating.

I do try to get a little fancy with the chocolate syrup and drizzle it all over the plate, of course this is entirely unnecessary but my kids like it so I do it. Once you spread your chocolate syrup you place the ice cream ball on the plate and that's it you are done. The only thing left to do is to grab a spoon and enjoy this simple and super easy to make dessert. It will probably take you longer to read this entire Instructable than it will to make this dessert. The next time you are craving fried ice cream but don't want to go out to the local Tex-Mex restaurant or you don't want to spark up your fryer give this dessert a try I don't think you will regret it. I mean its ice cream how could you go wrong?