Celebrating Final Days of Summer with Homemade Kahlua Banana Dulce de Leche Gelato

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This Kahlua Banana Dulce de Leche Gelato recipe post is sponsored by JCPenny. All opinions are my own.

Final days of summer are around the corner.  As everyone is getting ready to ship their kids back to school, I’m holding on to the few weeks we have left.  Lucky for me and other Southern Californians, summer doesn’t really completely go away.  I have to admit, we are pretty spoiled with constant sunshine all year around. Since we do get to enjoy more warmer days than others, that means we also get to enjoy delicious cold treats.  This is why I finally decided to kick-off my gelato making experience with a homemade Kahlua banana dulce de leche gelato.

Now before I share my recipe with you, let me just start with the fact that I love ice cream and so does my family.  I remember as I child my mom would give us her left over change so we could walk to our nearest neighborhood ice cream store.  That was always a treat.  But when I got older, I was introduced to gelato and a new love for the creamy delicious summer treat was born.  There’s no way I can store a carton of gelato in my freezer.  As soon as I leave a carton in the freezer, its gone that same day or next.  Don’t judge me!  What is it about ice cream and gelato that makes every situation in life better?  With so many gourmet gelato and ice cream shops popping up all over SoCal, its hard to resist the temptation, and not to mention, expensive!

Shopping for an easy to use ice cream-gelato maker

Being that this summer has been one of the hottest summers in a while, I started exploring the idea of purchasing my own ice cream, gelato maker.  I went online and started my research for the perfect and easy to use ice cream maker and came across many models with different capabilities.  From ice cream, to yogurt, to sorbet, it was all available online.  But I was looking for one that can do it all, and most importantly, something affordable.  After a few days of reading reviews on many machines, I came across the Cuisinart Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker and ordered it from JCPenny.com.

The Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker can prepare all your family favorite summer treats like ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Its super easy to use, thanks to its one-button operation for ice cream, gelato, and sorbet and auto shutoff. I was really impressed with it’s quick processing time.  In just 30 minutes, I had 2 quarts of my favorite gelato!

The machine does come with a 3 year warranty, a recipe book and if you open a JCPenny card, you get an additional 15% off.  Within a few days, my online shipment arrived and it was time to kick off my gelato experiment!

Kahlua Banana Dulce de Leche Gelato

Since this would be my first attempt making gelato, I wanted to create a flavor that would be easy to make and also rock my world.  I love bananas, I love Kahlua and you can’t go wrong with dulce de leche, so why not combine them all?!

I started the process by heating very ripe bananas and Kahlua in a medium sauce pan for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the bananas fell apart.  Within minutes of heating, your kitchen is filled with a sweet aroma.  Remove the bananas from heat and puree.  I used a potato smasher.

While the banana puree is cooling down, heat milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat at medium-high speed until mixture is very thick and pale yellow, should be about 3-5 minutes.

Next, you’ll want to add half the milk to egg-yolk mixture and whisk until blended. Stir into remaining milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick.  Try not to over cook it.

Once mixture is thick, remove from heat and immediately stir in the cream. You’ll want to pass the mixture through a strainer into a  bowl then set it over an ice bath to chill. Once it’s cooled down, you can stir in the banana puree.

Okay, here’s the exciting part.  Pour the mixture into the Cuisinart Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker and press the gelato button.  Let the ice-cream maker do it’s magic!

In about 30 minutes your gelato will be creamy and ready to eat!  Store the rest in a tight container and freeze for tomorrow…or later.

The Cuisinart Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker is really easy to use.  I have to admit, it was the best purchase I made all summer, #soworthit.  Thanks JCPenny.  This may be the beginning of a sweet series.