Mamey Sapote Ice Cream (for Ninja Creami)

 

It’s mamey season.

For the uninitiated, mamey sapote is a delicious fruit that hails from tropical regions like the Caribbean.

It’s easier to compare the flavor of mamey to a root vegetable than it is to compare it to another fruit. It has the texture of a creamy fruit but, according to the internet, the taste of sweet potato. It looks a lot like one, too. When I tried it, I actually thought it tasted like a deep, almost bitter caramel. My family thought it tasted like banana when it was in ice cream form, and I could sort of see where they were coming from.

 

However you describe the flavor of mamey sapote, it’s quite sweet when ripe. It only needs a touch of sugar to maintain the sweetness typical of ice cream. I chose to use white sugar so as not to detract from its delicate flavor, but I think this fruit would also play well with brown sugar or maple syrup as a substitute. You might even be able to omit extra sugar altogether.

 

Anyways, if you’re lucky enough to snag one of these bad boys at a supermarket or farmer’s market, definitely give this recipe a try. I used about ¾ of the insides of a smallish, very ripe mamey sapote. The person at the farmer’s market was super helpful and friendly, pointing out which one was best to eat right away. It’s always so great to get help like that!

If you’re on your own in choosing the right mamey, I strongly recommend that you feel, smell, and look at the fruit to choose the best one. If the mamey sapote is heavy, squishes a little bit when poked, smells sweet (but not alcoholic), and doesn’t have any super suspicious blemishes or mold, it’s a good one!

The texture of this ice cream is thick and full-bodied because of the fiber from the fruit. This really is an amazing fruit that I hope everyone can try in ice cream form.

Be sure to make this mamey sapote ice cream before mamey season ends!

 

Mamey Sapote Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

• 300 g mamey sapote (about ¾ of a medium-small mamey), scooped from the skins

• 90 g (1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons) milk

• 20 g (1 ½ tablespoons) sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 117 g (½ cup) cream

Directions

1. Blend together first four ingredients on medium speed until smooth.

2. Mix in the cream by hand, or add it into the blender and pulse for a few seconds just until combined.

3. Pour into an empty Ninja Creami pint and freeze on a flat surface. Freeze overnight or for 24 hours.

4. Churn on the regular Ice Cream setting, respinning as needed until it’s a creamy consistency. Enjoy! Leftovers that have been refrozen should be set at room temperature to thaw for a few minutes before eating again.

Q and A

Q: What is a sapote?

A: “Sapote” in Spanish refers to pretty much any large, soft tree fruit. I recently learned that online and was surprised; all this time, I thought “mamey sapote” was named so because sapote was a species and mamey was a subspecies. Nope. “Sapote” refers to a bunch of totally unrelated fruits. Mamey is the fruit, and “sapote” just lets you know that it’s a big, squishy fruit from a tree. The more you know!

Q: Where can I find mamey sapote?

A: You can find mamey sapote in the summertime at farmer’s markets in tropical regions as well as some Latin supermarkets. Otherwise, if you can find mamey pulp in frozen form, that will work perfectly for this recipe.

Q: What does mamey sapote ice cream taste like?

A: The mamey sapote fruit itself tastes like sweet potato, caramel, pumpkin, and banana. The ice cream tastes just like that. In fact, by weight, this ice cream is about 60% fruit!

Q: Is mamey sapote ice cream healthy?

A: Not really. However, it does contain less added sugar than most ice cream since the fruit is already so sweet. To lower the amount of sugar even more, you can try completely omitting the white sugar. Leftovers will freeze hard without extra sugar, so let the leftovers sit at room temp for a few minutes before trying to dig in again.

Q: How can I make this in a standard ice cream machine?

A: I haven’t tried this yet myself, but here’s what should work: Blend together all the ingredients (except cream) on medium or high speed. Stir in the heavy cream or add it to the blender and pulse on low for a few seconds until just combined. Strain the mixture and chill it. Once it’s chilled, churn it until it’s mostly solid and the surface is no longer shiny.