Midnight

Coconut Honeysuckle Ice Cream

MIxers' Club January Entry

This months assignment was to broaden our horizons, chose a profile you have not previously done and develop a recipe. The only profile I haven't touched on, or at least made a concentrated effort towards was Florals.

My original idea was Coconut and Honeysuckle Rice. I was excited by the prospect because it was an outside of the box recipe and rice was another profile I didn't get to mess with. However, this fell flat on it's face. I just could not get it to work together the way I was intending too. My original intention was a dry cooked rice, but FE Sweet Rice just can't do that on its own, it was leaving me with almost Coconut Rice Krispies in cream. I didn't have the flavors to get it to where it needed to be but if I was to revisit that concept, I think VT Rice Base or FLV Starch Base would be a solid step.

At an earlier point in time I was chatting with @isuamadog and he told me about Macapuno Ice Cream. Something I have never heard of. Immediately after the rice fell flat on its face that was the first thing I had thought of. Apothecary Elixirs (RIP) used to make a really damn good Coconut Honeysuckle Ice Cream and after closing up shop there is obviously no way to get it anymore so I decided to attempt my own version. While we were supposed to be outside of our comfort zone and Ice Cream is clearly my comfort zone it felt a little cheaty . However, I wanted to make coconut and honeysuckle happen. And thus Midnight was born.

Flavor Notes:

LB VIC + HS VIC + TFA VS - The obvious. A super creamy slightly malty ice cream base. I was actually extremely surprised at how well the coconut paired up with the ice cream and brought this to a whole new level.

FLV Sweet Coconut and FA Coco'- This is my go to Coconut blend right here. If I'm doing a coconut recipe it will involve these two flavors. I usually start off at a 2:1 ratio and adjust the individual percentages according to the recipe. The combo brings a nice bold coconut flavor with next to no "sunscreen" off note.

FLV Coconut- Like most FLV stuff this one is a powerful flavor. Just a touch of this into the pairing of coconut brings a little bit of a coconut butter to add a bit of thickness to the coconut.

TFA Honeysuckle- Brings a little juicy sweetness in with a subtle floral note to wrap up the mix.

I've made a few minor adjustments to the recipe since the start. Playing with the coconut percentages as well as the honeysuckle. I have not yet, but I want to try and lower the Ice Cream Trinity to see how everything else plays with that. While I don't think lowering the ICT is exactly necessary as the mix is at a pretty good point where it is, I want to try that out just to see what happens. I did try and add some WS23 into it to see how it is cold, and 2 drops to a 15ml absolutely ruined the mix. It mutes basically everything but a bit of Coconut and Cream so that's a no go.