This is a pretty interesting ice cream. It’s mostly bananas (frozen first), mixed with a bit of cream. Sugar is in the form of piloncillo, that cone-shaped sugar found in Latin markets.

I had no problem finding piloncillo, but grating it is kind of a pain (the ice cream uses a full cone). I started by hand, then quickly realized it would take me all day. I fed it through my food processor grating plate instead, but it made an awful noise and I’m guessing my Cuisinart wasn’t all too happy about it. A better option would be to buy already granulated piloncillo from the fantastic Rancho Gordo. It was out of stock when I was buying ingredients for the ice cream, so I used the cone instead.

I haven’t had great luck making a delicious banana ice cream, but this method works. It uses eight very ripe bananas, but since they’re frozen, you can just store them in the freezer as they ripen. Since I was at a Latin market buying piloncillo, I just picked up bananas there – they tend to sell bananas that are much riper than at mainstream markets.

The result is a frosty treat that has a very clean, not muted or mutated banana flavor. I think it would be fine without pecans but they add a nice nuttiness that compliments the bananas and sugar.

• Banana Pecan Piloncillo Ice Cream (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, p. 174)