Coconut Ice

   Last night I catered a book club.  It was small, just four people.  Yeah, it was for my mom's best friend... But you have to start somewhere!  It was an Indian meal because they read....... actually, no clue.  I'll get back to you on that.  I was very excited about this dessert.  The meal itself was loaded with all sorts of different spices so I wanted to finish on a calm, cool, creamy note.  However, breaking out the ice cream machine and making a custard is too much for my schedule right now.  Not to mention that this is a absolute make ahead dessert.  I started mine the night before the dinner, but you could make this 2 or 3 days in advance.  This can be made in a bare essentials kitchen and still pack the punch of a fabulous frozen custard.  (Also, this is a totally vegan alternative to traditional ice cream!  If you care about that kind of thing.) 

Coconut Ice
1 C water
3/4 C white sugar
1/2 C vodka
1 tsp freshly grater ginger
3 C coconut milk (roughly 1 1/2 cans)*
dark chocolate (I used pomegranate dark chocolate.)

   To make simple syrup, heat sugar and water over med-high.  Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a slight boil.  Remove from heat and cool. 
   Add vodka, ginger, and coconut milk to simple syrup.  Whisk together.  Pour into baking dish that has a lid or cover with foil.  Place in freezer.  Every hour, for the first couple hours, take a fork and scrape ice from sides of dish.  Later, scrape ice and fluff up dessert with fork so it does not freeze into a solid block.  (The vodka will help prevent this from happening.)
   Shave a little chocolate over the top for serving
   Serves 6.

*To get the correct texture, I suggest using a coconut milk that has at least 8g of fat per serving.  Stay away from the lite coconut milks that are very low in fat for this recipe.