Paçoca Ice Cream with Fried Bananas and Chocolate Sauce
Paçoca Ice Cream topped with Fried Bananas and drizzled with a luscious Chocolate Sauce is what I have for you today... Huh? Paçoca is a Southeastern Brazilian candy made from ground peanuts and sugar. Don't worry! If you don't have access to pre-packaged paçoca (peanut candy), you still can make this super duper delicious ice cream by roasting and grinding peanuts -- as simple as that!
I developed this recipe specifically for The Latin Kitchen, and it wound up becoming one of my favorite ice creams. This is serious stuff, kiddos! A synonym for paçoca ice cream is addiction! Of that I am quite certain.
I am not kidding... I had to hide my paçoca ice cream in order to not eat it all in one sitting. All by itself it is already out of this world. But topped with fried bananas (banana frita) and drizzled with chocolate sauce, it is pure heaven. It is one of those unique experiences that one never forgets. If you are crazy for peanuts, peanut butter, and other peanut treats, you just have to try paçoca ice cream.
Paçoca is also used to refer to a completely dish. In my Northeast region, paçoca is a dish made from carne de sol (sun-cured beef), like this...
... along with farinha de mandioca (cassava flour), and red onions, and ground together in a mortar and pestle (pilão). This Northeastern paçoca dish is known as paçoca de pilão in the rest of Brazil while the Southeastern paçoca (peanut candy) is known is my Northeastern region as paçoquinha ('little paçoca'). I know that this can be a little bit confusing. It is all due to the origin of the word: paçoca comes from the indigenous Tupi word "posok," which means "to crumble," "to shatter."
But for now, let us focus on paçoca the peanut candy. To discover more about paçoca, stop by The Latin Kitchen and learn more about it from Bridget Shirvell. There you can also get the recipe in English for my Paçoca Ice Cream with Fried Bananas and Chocolate Sauce . In addition, if you would like to find out more about the health benefits of bananas, please take a look at this impressive article.
Paçoca Ice Cream with Fried Bananas and Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
- For the Paçoca Ice Cream:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 medium ripe yet firm bananas quartered
- ½ cup sugar divided
- 1-⅛ teaspoons ground cinnamon divided
- Freshly squeezed juice of ½ lime
- 2-½ cups ground paçoca or roasted and ground peanuts. See note below! use a fork or your hands to break up the paçoca
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- For the Fried Bananas:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 medium ripe yet firm bananas sliced into rounds
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the Chocolate Sauce:
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- To make the paçoca ice cream: Wrap the ice cream bowl/bucket in plastic wrap (in order to keep it clean) and freeze it for about 24 hours prior to making the ice cream.
- Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Reduce heat to medium and cook the quartered bananas (chunks) for about 1 minute, tossing the bananas by shaking the pan around occasionally. In a small bowl, mix together ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour on top of the bananas and let cook for about 2 minutes, agitating the pan occasionally. Remove from heat and drizzle the lime juice on top of the bananas, swirling the pan in a circular motion to coat them. Transfer to a bowl, let cool, and freeze.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup sugar, ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon, ground paçoca, heavy cream, condensed milk, vanilla, and salt until obtaining a homogeneous mixture.
- If using an ice cream machine: Pour mixture into ice cream machine frozen bowl/bucket, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Let it churn for about 25-30 minutes or until firm. Transfer the ice cream to a container, fold in the frozen bananas chunks, cover (with a lid or plastic wrap), and store in the freezer for at least 24 hours. Serve by itself or with fried bananas on top drizzled with chocolate sauce.
- If NOT using an ice cream machine: Follow the instructions above for preparing the banana chunks and also the ice cream mixture. Transfer the ice cream mixture to an airtight container and cover with plastic wrap. After ice cream has been in the freezer for 60-90 minutes, remove from the freezer and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula. Freeze ice cream again and continue to stir every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours. Fold in the frozen bananas chunks, cover (with a lid or heavy duty aluminum foil), and store in the freezer for at least 24 hours. Serve by itself or with fried bananas on top drizzled with chocolate sauce.
- For the fried bananas, heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Reduce heat to medium and cook the banana rounds for about 1 minute, shaking the pan around occasionally. In a small bowl, mix together ¼ cup sugar with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Pour over the bananas and let cook for about 2-3 minutes, agitating the pan occasionally. Remove pan from the heat and let cool a little bit before serving on top of the ice cream with the chocolate sauce.
- For the chocolate sauce, place both chocolate chips and heavy cream in a medium microwaveable bowl and heat at medium power (50%) for 1 to 1-½ minutes. Stir well, heating at 15-30 seconds intervals if necessary, stirring until smooth. Drizzle on top of the fried bananas.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Sounds heavenly, Denise! It's going to be 50 degrees today, so ice cream season can't be too far behind!
I see! We enjoy ice cream the entire year in Texas -- even though we have freezing temperatures. 🙂
Each time I saw an ice cream recipe I wish I have an ice cream maker. I know that we can still make ice cream without, but I think that the machine helps a lot...!!!
My recipe includes directions to make both with or without an ice cream machine. Basically, the difference is that the ice cream can be prepared faster in the machine.
Denise, this looks so wonderfully dense. I absolutely love fried bananas!!
Me too, Francesca! I love, love fried bananas...and pair well with this peanut ice cream -- which became a real fave of mine.
Just scrumptious! What an absolutely stunning dessert! I would also have a difficult time putting my spoon down! Maybe a few big scoops would tame my desire!
Deb: Thank you so much!
perfect ice cream recipe with an excellent combination, fresh and juicy..i know the spriing is not here yet but i'll still eat that sweet dessert 😀
I hope you enjoy it, Aurica! It is my fave!!!
I want this right now
Me too, cquek!
Oh this sounds truly divine... I once had an ice cream with fried bananas and I loved it. So i can imagine how delicious this would be with that nutty flavor... Yummy!
Thanks a lot! This is really very good.
Ohh my Gee! That looks amazeballs! I feel that candy is similar to the Filipino Chocnut basically made out of peanuts, sugar and a bit of cocoa
Thanks, Raymund! So they are similar. I think the difference is paçoca does not take cocoa.
Boy, this looks so good! I've never had paçoca but it sounds delish. Love the idea of using banana, too. Good stuff -- thanks.
Thank you, John!
Paçoca? It has been so long since I had this treat...I love the ice cream version...only you my dear Denise pairing paçoca with banana...yum!
Hope you are having a fabulous week 😀
Juliana: Thank you! Paçoca, bananas and chocolate together are one of the most delicious pair. 🙂
Denise - I learn so much from coming to your blog - not only about food and recipes but about culture and traditional foods - thanks for including the directions for making this ice cream without a ice cream maker. Peanuts (in any form) and chocolate are two of my favs - combined in ice cream - why its a dream!
Thanks so much, Shashi! I am very to hear form you that my blog has been a vehicle to learn more about Brazil in many ways. I hope you try this recipe at home -- which really became one of my all-time faves. I cannot make this often because I could eat the whole thing by myself -- and my hips would not thank me at all. 🙂
Hi
This sounds wonderful but when you say "2 1/2cupsground paçoca (use a fork or your hands to break up the paçoca", do you mean the roasted and ground nuts? Measure before or after grindind? Can you explain this please? I'd love to try it. Thanks
Hi, Flor de Maria! Since paçoca is a small solid block of candy, one needs to first grind it and then, measure 2 and 1/2 cups of it to make this ice cream. If paçoca candy is not available in your area, you can roast and then grind peanuts in order to measure 2 and 1/2 cups.
In my recipe, it is stated 2 and 1/2 cups of ground paçoca. Since ground is upfront, it means that you measure the GROUND product. If I had written 2-1/2 cups paçoca, ground (which I didn't)-- this would means you would measure the candy and then grind. These are nuances that make all the difference at the final result. I only wrote between parenthesis asking to use hands or a fork to break up the paçoca candy because there are people who looks to paçoca and ask themselves how they should grind the candy, which believe or not is so soft that one can use bare hands or a fork to grind it easily. No food processors or hammers are necessary. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this ice cream which became my fave. It is pure addiction! Wishing you a great day and thanks for stopping by!
Dear Lord, this is a DIVINE dessert! WOW. Really. WOW. Thank you so much for this sweet torture Denise!:)
Panos and Mirella: I am so glad to hear that you loved this. I made oit for the first time and fell in love with it. This is super addictive!
This sounds like a sensational treat! I can totally understand why you couldn't stop eating it. I love the way you drizzled chocolate sauce over the top. Such gorgeous photos!
Hi, Sonali! Thanks again. Yes, this thing is very addictive.
Wow how creative! I love fried bananas 🙂
I hope you try this at home, Kammie. 🙂