Dragonfruit-Basil Mascarpone Ice Cream and Mochi Ice Cream

Have you noticed how there've been way too many recipes using dragonfruit on this blog lately? It's not that I can't help myself, but I really can't! Red-fleshed dragonfruit is seasonal, just like strawberries, and rhubarb and God knows what else. It lasts a mere few months and then I have to wait nearly a whole year to do this again. A whole year of resisting using artificial pink food coloring. Yes, my name is Maya and I'm a PINK addict. Do you think I need to join a support group as a form of therapy? :-)

Dragonfruit ice cream topped with Dragon's Beard candy or Pashmak.

Last year, I made dragonfruit granita because it's easy and I hadn't yet gotten myself an ice cream machine. This year, things are a little different. I am now in possession of a brand new ice cream machine but the ice cream recipe still remains very easy. No cooking with eggs and cream and all that palaava.. The key, my friends, is mascarpone. This creamy cheese makes the whole process easier and produces a rich-textured ice cream without all the messing about. Dragonfruit being fairly tasteless, I added fresh basil to the ice cream mix to spike the flavors up. Think strawberry and basil, the idea is similar.

So here's what I did. I processed all the ingredients in the blender for about, oh, 30 seconds....maybe one minute max. Then I just poured everything into an ice cream machine and let it work its magic. Left the ice cream to harden in the freezer for about 4 hours and that's all there was to it. I get to scoop out this visually enticing fuschia-pink ice cream in roughly 19,200 heartbeats (being a fairly healthy girl). Whoever invented that custard-base method must've had too much free time on their hands.

I also tried my hand at making mochi ice cream again using this dragonfruit ice cream as a filling. My mochi shell this time around was chocolate-flavored, as I thought the dark and pink contrast would be quite attractive and I'm all for gorgeous food! My mochi dough-stretching technique was getting better but I still needed the help of a rolling pin, and I still used tons of cornstarch.... Someone out there please throw me some pearls of wisdom on the correct way to deal with unruly mochi dough. 

The mochi ice cream was melt-in-the-mouth delicious and perfect to munch on (yes, you munch the mochi) on a really hot day. It was well worth the extra effort. Well, I like to think so, anyway.

Dragonfruit-Basil Mascarpone Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped red-fleshed dragonfruit
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
4-5 tablespoons honey

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth (about 1 minute). Taste to adjust the sweetness.

2. Pour mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Scoop the semi-frozen mixture into an airtight container and leave in the fridge to freeze further for at least 2-4 hours.

Chocolate and Dragonfruit Mochi Ice Cream
Ingredients:

50 g glutinous rice flour or sweet rice powder
100g sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100ml water
cornstarch as needed

Method:

1. Spread cornstarch on a cutting board, use plenty so the mochi dough does not stick to the board.

2. Place the glutinous rice flour and cocoa in a glass bowl and add the water a little at a time, stirring to get rid of lumps. Add the sugar and mix it well again.

3. Next, cover the bowl with plastic food wrap (leave a breather gap) and cook in the microwave on medium for 2 minutes. Mix with a wooden spoon (dip it in water) and cook for around two more minutes. Stir quickly until the dough turns shiny and smooth. It is now ready to be spread.

4. Dip your spoon in water then spread the sweet rice dough onto the cutting board as flat as possible. Remember the dough is hot so take care.

5. Cover the dough with corn starch and flip it over. Then pull and stretch the edges and make the dough thinner.

6. Keep pulling and stretching until the dough is around 3 millimetres thin. If it tears a little, just patch the hole up with more dough.

7. Leave to cool a little and when the dough is cool enough, cut it into rounds using a large, round cutter or a bowl for the size. You now have nice, round mochi sheets.

8. To freeze the dough, cover each layer of mochi sheet with plastic wrap and dust with cornstarch then put it into the freezer.

9. Place a scoop of dragonfruit ice cream onto the centre of the mochi sheet. For a nice round mochi use an ice cream scoop.

10. Fold mochi over the ice cream and join the edges at the centre, pinch to close. Place in a round mold to form a nice shape and leave mold in the freezer until the ice cream hardens up. To serve, remove mochi ice cream from the mold, leave to thaw for 1-2 minutes and eat immediately.