This ice-cream is is rich, very delicious and so easy to make. No special machine and hardly any time will get you an incredible confection that will have your friends and family begging for more. You should know that the speculoos butter is the crown jewel of this heady dessert. Do not leave it out, or god forbid, do not use peanut butter! For those of you who have not tasted it you are in for a taste blast!
I made my Dulce de leche from a can of condensed milk. I did not want it too thick or to have the caramel flavor over power the bananas so, I only cooked it for two hours. This produces a thinner lighter color caramel. Most recipes call for at least 3 hours of cooking which produces the typical thicker, sweeter, darker colored caramel milk. If you love an intense Dulce de leche taste then go for the full 3 hours or buy some already prepared from the supermarket.
Speculoos is a crispy, spiced, shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked in the Netherlands. If you travel by airplane a lot you may have been offered those yummy Biscoff cookies and they are a common form of speculoos. There are many brands of speculoos butter ( a spread made from the cookies) but the one I used was from Trader Joe's.
I filled small glass jars with the ice-cream so everyone can have their own ice-cream cup!
4 ripe bananas (speckled but not black and gooey)
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup whipping cream
14 ounces of Dulce de leche homemade or store-bought*
1/3 cup speculoos cookie butter**
Process Bananas in the food processor with the lemon juice. In your food processor or with a wire whisk whip the cream into soft peaks. Combine the banana mixture, whipped cream and dulce de leche together in a large bowl until well combined and smooth. Pour into a freezer container and add small 1/2 teaspoon sized dollops of cookie butter all over the mixture. Then freeze for at least 3 hours.
*
Dulce de leche- a sweet and creamy caramelized milk. Can be bought in most supermarkets but is also very easy to make. Here is a simple method from the Serious Eats web site. http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/02/how-to-make-dulce-de-leche-canned-condensed-milk.html . As I mentioned you can alter the cooking times to suit your taste.
**
Specculoos is a cookie frequently sold under the brand name Biscoff. Biscoff also makes a cookie spread under their brand name. For more information go to http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/cookie-butter-speculoos