my roommates gave me an ice cream maker for my wedding and ever since then I have been making ice cream non-stop. I lay in bed thinking of new ideas for flavor combinations and I get so excited! The first kind I made was using the fresh mint in our back yard and it was delicious! Mint is of course one of my favorite things. After the mint I decided to be more creative and I was inspired by my favorite ice cream shop, Jeni's ( They always have very creative, gourmet and absolutely delicious flavors) So I made Cucumber Coconut Sorbet and Butternut Squash ice cream with Caramel & candied pecans. And they were both a success! hooray!!!
Cucumber Coconut Sorbet
I love how cool and refreshing cucumber is. People don't give cucumber enough opportunities as a desert flavor, but I'm telling you this one is delish! Its light and tasty, with a smooth texture. Yum!
2 large Cucumber
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 can light coconut milk
Juice from 1 lime
3/4 cup simple syrup, Recipe below
Blend the cucumbers and honey together in a blender or food processor until cucumber is almost pureed, but still has some chunks. Refrigerate for 6-24 hours. The honey will draw out the moisture in the cucumbers. Then blend again until smooth, and pour into a fine strainer, pushing out juices and discarding pulp & peel.
Combine the juices with a can of coconut milk & lime juice & simple syrup
Freeze in Ice cream maker for 20-30 minutes or until thick and creamy. YUM!!!
simple syrup : Ingredients
1. 1/2 cup sugar
2. 1/4 cup light corn syrup
3. 1/4 cup water
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let stand until cool, 30 minutes.
Butter nut Squash
The squash has a richer flavor and is more decadent with the caramel and pecans. We has friends over for dinner last night and they were shocked that the secret ingredient was squash. Its taste a little like pumpkin pie only more mild.
Start by peeling and cubing one medium sized butternut squash. Boil for 5-10 minutes with a little vanilla in the water.
Use your favorite basic vanilla ice cream recipe, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, some nutmeg a little brown sugar.
Add a cup of the cream mixture in a blender with the butternut squash and puree until smooth. Mix with remaining ice cream mixture. Pour into fine strainer to remove pulp. I would probably strain this twice. I only did it once and the texture was a little too grainy.
Then pour into ice cream machine! and freeze!
Yummy yummy yummy.
Next up, I'm thinking Basil Lime.... I love my garden!
5 comments:
Maybe you and Sarah should make some when you come!
Wow you are creative. I never would have thought those flavors. YOu are just so cute Laurie. The icecreams look delicious.
This is awesome. My friend Vivian has an ice cream maker, and we've made some awesome flavors, too. It's so fun. My favorite recent concoction we came up with was lemon-rose. Lots of lemon, and just enough rose water for it not to overpower, but rather a gentle aftertaste.
Mmmm. Ice cream :)
Remember making ice cream as kids? I think we made it in that round tin, or ball that we rolled back and forth to eachother for hours?
I'm going to try your ice cream recipes as soon as I can! Also, might I add that your photos look fantastic! Maybe you should look into a job as a food photographer! Yummy!
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