Paw Paw Ice Cream Recipe - A Paw Paw Recipe | Hank Shaw (2024)

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4.80 from 10 votes

By Hank Shaw

November 06, 2014 | Updated October 28, 2020

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Paw Paw Ice Cream Recipe - A Paw Paw Recipe | Hank Shaw (2)

Paw paws are a mystery to most people. Most think they are papayas,Carica papaya, native to the tropics and beloved of Baloo the bear in The Jungle Book. That’s not the fruitI am talking about. I am talking about Asmina triloba, the American paw paw, a/k/a Hoosier banana or custard apple. They are native to the East and Midwest and happen to be our largest native fruit.

Paw paws live in wet places – notably along riverbanks – from New York to Florida and west to the Great Plains. They are the only non-tropical member of the asmina family, which includes the soursop and tropical custard-apple.

Paw paws are typically a small, spindly tree with leaves that look too large for the tree’s size. They tend to grow in mass clumps in the dappled shade of larger trees.

I first encountered paw paws many years ago, along the banks of the Rappahannock River in Virginia while looking for good places to catch herring and shad from the riverbank. I was bushwhacking toward the water when I found myself in a grove of what, superficially, looked like palms growing underneath the canopy of elms and maples. They had oversized leaves with the floppy habit of palm leaves, although they were not fringed like a real palm leaf.

But these “palms” did have shriveled growths on them that resembled a rotten banana.

As it happens, that’s what they are. Sorta. I had an inkling that this might be a paw paw, so I looked up this plant in Euell Gibbons’ Stalking The Wild Asparagusand it was, indeed, a paw paw. I marked the spot and returned in September, and there were the ripe green “bananas” all over the trees. I could have found them blind, because of the aroma.

Paw Paw Ice Cream Recipe - A Paw Paw Recipe | Hank Shaw (3)

The best way I can describe the smell of a paw paw is that it’s like a girl’s first perfume: Tropical-floral and intensely sweet, cloying, almost. And powerful! Oh man, bring a sack of paw paws home and your house will smell like the inside of a candy factory in less than an hour.

Wuff. When I first brought home a stash of them one day, I was almost overcome. I would up putting them on the porch overnight, and a raccoon came and ate them all.

I went back and got some more and let them ripen. Like a banana, they ripen from green to yellow to blackish.

Paw Paw Ice Cream Recipe - A Paw Paw Recipe | Hank Shaw (4)

As for flavor, they taste like a cross between bananas and an overripe pear, and the texture is soft and custardy, like lemon curd or an avocado. The color is a rich yellow, like a buttery custard or good French vanilla ice cream.

Thus this paw paw recipe: paw paw ice cream. I am proud to say this one’s a winner. It was pretty simple, actually. Make a standard French vanilla ice cream and add mashed ripe, paw paws, then churn.

4.80 from 10 votes

Paw Paw Ice Cream

Obviously this is a recipe focusing on North American paw paws, but I am pretty sure banana would work just as well, although the flavors would be very different. Fresh or frozen paw paw mash will work, so you can make this anytime if you have some squirreled away. Use really ripe paw paws here -- the blackish ones. This is essentially a French vanilla ice cream with paw paw added right at the end. The only tricky part of this recipe is tempering the egg yolks, and that's not exactly rocket science. You just need to add the hot cream in small doses while stirring the beaten yolks. I'd eat this ice cream within a few weeks. The longer it sits in the freezer, the hard it gets, and it can get icy over time.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 quart

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups mashed paw paws, about 4 or 5 paw paws
  • 2 cups cream
  • 2 cups milk
  • A scant 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 a vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, scraped
  • 5 egg yolks

Instructions

  • Start by making the custard for the ice cream. Heat the cream and milk and sugar in a pot over medium heat to the steaming point, about 165°F. If you are using a real vanilla bean, add it to the mixture now. If you are using extract, wait a bit.

  • Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Stirring the eggs all the time, add one ladle of the hot cream mixture into the eggs. Do this a second time -- this is tempering the eggs so they don't curdle in the hot cream. Pour the egg mixture into the pot.

  • Stir the custard often and heat it back to the steaming point. When it thickens -- it should coat the back of a spoon -- turn off the heat and pour the custard into a bowl. I like to set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice to cool the mix down quickly. Stir in the vanilla extract if that's what you are using.

  • When the custard is cool, whisk in the mashed paw paws until they are well combined. You can put the mixture into your ice cream maker now, or you can push it through a fine-meshed strainer to remove any stray bits; you'll need to fish out the vanilla bean if you used that anyway. Run through your ice cream machine and eat!

Notes

Note that prep time does not include chilling time after you make the custard.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Berries and Fruits, Featured, Foraging, Recipe, Sweet Things

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Read More About Me

Paw Paw Ice Cream Recipe - A Paw Paw Recipe | Hank Shaw (2024)

FAQs

Can you freeze whole pawpaws? ›

Ripe Pawpaw flesh, with skin and seeds removed, can be pureed and frozen for later use. Some people even freeze whole fruits. Pawpaws are very nutritious fruits. They are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese.

Why is Paw Paw so rare? ›

Pollination: Poor pollination has always plagued the pawpaw in nature, and the problem has followed them into domestication. Pawpaw flowers are perfect, in that they have both male and female reproduction parts, but they are not self-pollinating.

What is the difference between papaya and pawpaw? ›

Papaya has orange to red flesh and is narrower than pawpaw (papaw). Pawpaw flesh is yellow and they are generally larger than papaya. Both are ready to eat when the skin is yellow and slightly soft to touch. Green papaya (pawpaw) is the unripened fruit.

How is paw paw cream made? ›

Paw Paw cream - also known as papaya cream - is a natural remedy made from the fruit of the Paw Paw tree. Paw Paw skin care products are made from fermented Paw Paw ( Carica Papaya L) which contains an enzyme called Papain. This enzyme helps to break down dead skin cells and promote skin renewal.

What can you mix paw paw with? ›

Since pawpaws taste like tropical fruit, they go well with melons, citrus fruits, coconut, passionfruit, pineapple, and more.

Why isn't pawpaw more popular? ›

And the main problem with pawpaws is they're really hard to store and ship. As soon as you pluck them, they get ripe very fast, within three to five days, and they become really squishy and brown and ugly.

Will pawpaws ripen if picked green? ›

When they are ripe, pawpaw fruits naturally fall from the tree. Pawpaws may be handpicked from the tree slightly under-ripe and still proceed to finish ripen normally. If picked too early, they will not finish ripening properly or at all.

What are the benefits of eating pawpaws? ›

Papaya Benefits. Papayas contain high levels of antioxidants such as vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Diets high in antioxidants may reduce the risk of heart disease. The antioxidants prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. When cholesterol oxidizes, it's more likely to create blockages that lead to heart disease.

Why are pawpaws not sold in stores? ›

If it comes off the tree while it's still hard, there's a chance that it might not ripen at all, which is why growing pawpaws commercially is very labor-intensive — because we go out during pawpaw season every single day and we touch every single pawpaw to see if it's ripe,” said Lane.

What states do pawpaws grow in? ›

The native range is most of eastern North America, from Ontario and Michigan and Wisconsin, south into Florida, and west into Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas (shown in green on the map below). Pawpaw trees are often found as thickets in the understory, seldom in coastal ecosystems.

How much do pawpaws sell for? ›

In recent years (2014-2015) fresh pawpaw sold at farmers' markets for $4.50 to $5 per pound, and up to $8 per pound through an upscale grocery store. The price for fresh pawpaw bought online is even higher per pound due to additional packing and shipping costs (Chung, 2014) (Dingfelder, 2014) (Rocky Point Farm, 2020).

Are pawpaws male or female? ›

Pawpaw trees can be male, female or bisexual (meaning they produce flowers that have both male and female functioning parts). It's important to be aware of this as male specimens won't bear fruit and female trees will need a male tree somewhere nearby for fertilisation before they can set fruit.

What is the nickname of the pawpaw fruit? ›

Pawpaws have had some public-awareness issues. An abundance of folksy nicknames, for one: Hoosier banana, Indian banana, custard apple, Quaker delight.

Is it safe to eat raw pawpaw? ›

Raw papaya is healthy as it is a good source of dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and antioxidants. It may also contain enzymes like papain that aid digestion and offer anti-inflammatory properties.

Can you eat raw pawpaw? ›

It gives off a unique, fruity aroma that's similar to a banana or a mango. The inside is soft and pulpy with a custard-like texture, and it usually contains five or six large, long seeds. It's usually eaten raw without the skin. Here's everything you need to know about the health benefits of the pawpaw fruit.

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