Directions

Toast the coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread sweetened coconut onto a small rimmed baking sheet.
2. Place baking sheet into the oven and toast the coconut, stirring every 2 minutes until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes total. Cool until ready to use.

Infuse the cream

1. In a large saucepan, stir together heavy cream, milk, salt and half of the sugar (6 Tablespoons) over a medium-high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble around the edges, reduce the heat to medium.
2. Stir in 1 cup toasted coconut to the cream mixture and steep for 15 to 20 minutes, until a distinct coconut flavor has infused into the liquid. Taste it to monitor the progress.
3. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing the contact to extract as much liquid as possible. Rinse the pan, then return the infused cream to the saucepan.

Make the custard base

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar (6 Tablespoons). Set aside.
2. Carefully pour about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Continue to whisk the egg yolks, adding one more 1/2 cup of the cream. Then stir the remaining cream mixture while slowly pouring the egg-and-cream mixture from the bowl into the pan.
3. Cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard has thickened, coats the back of a wooden spoon or spatula, and holds a clear path when you run your finger across the back.
4. Strain the custard base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Set the container into an ice-water bath. While the mixture is still warm, add citrus zest and stir with a clean spoon until the base has cooled.
5. Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Churn the ice cream

1. Whisk the Thai Wok oil into the chilled base until well blended.
2. Freeze your ice cream machine bowl according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pour the custard base into the bowl and churn. Continue to churn the ice cream until it has reached the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
3. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of toasted coconut into the ice cream during the last minute or so of churning.
4. Place the container that you'll use to store the ice cream into the freezer. Enjoy your ice cream right away, or for a firmer ice cream, transfer to the chilled container and freeze for at least 4 hours.