Coconut Milkshake
Milkshake #3
This recipe came from my friend Sarah, tucked in with the home cooking she brought me a few weeks ago. It’s fitting that I saved it until now, because I seem to be making milkshakes in order of increasing decadence and this one is an incredibly rich, three minute tropical vacation.
Confession: for an embarrassingly long period of my life, I knew coconut as those little flakes that come in a bag, destined for macaroons, or ambrosia (fruit salad, for any non-Southerners). Thankfully now I know it also comes in a can!
Just kidding. But coconut is one of those foods that I only learned the true wonder of, particularly in its liquid incarnations, by consuming it fresh, both while traveling abroad and exploring other cuisines here at home. And now, for once, I actually NEED all the calories and fat (although coconut water, which I love but does not belong in a milkshake, is actually low in both and has nutrients and electrolytes).
Blend:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup coconut milk (here’s a nice photo tutorial for making your own - it involves a blender, too!)
- 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
- 1 tsp ground cloves
In typical milkshake haste I only noticed after polishing this off that Sarah had recommended serving it over crushed ice, which sounds great. You could also add a little sugar, depending on how sweet your ice cream is. I liked it without. If you actually go so far as to make your own coconut milk and manage not to smash the shell to pieces, reward yourself by serving the shake in it.
Now, coconut is not everyone’s thing, and if it’s not yours, don’t bother with this. That should go without saying, but you wouldn’t believe the number of recipe reviews out there where a commenter explains a one fork or star or whatever rating with “it’s just that I’ve never liked [enter key ingredient of recipe here].” And if you can hang on a couple days, I have the mother of all milkshakes coming next.
