Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lavender & Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

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I've been feeling very girly recently, and that seems to be showing in the recipes I've been coming up with. It's probably no surprise that with the goings-on that I've got lots of smushy happy feelings, and somehow that is translating into lots of pink and shiny baking. So I'm just going to go with it. After all, Valentine's Day isn't too far away! (Although A hates Valentine's Day more than any other day and we never do anything for it)
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This recipe came about because I really, really wanted to test out my shiny new ice cream attachment that I was so lucky to receive as a birthday present from my most awesome girlfriends. I also had a bunch of fresh lavender that was kindly hand-picked by my fiancé (which led to an increase in the smushy happy feelings), and a few punnets of very nice looking fresh raspberries which were begging to be used. Surprisingly, all these things came together very well.
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For anyone who is wondering, the ice cream attachment for the KitchenAid works great. It's just like any of those low-range ice cream churners, you have to freeze the bowl the day before you use it, and then it just had a churning paddle that you attach to the head. After about 30 minutes on low speed my mixture was like soft-serve, and then I just transferred it to an airtight container and froze it overnight. The result was a creamy, smooth ice-cream, and a lot less effort than having to haul the mixture out of the fridge every few hours to spin it through my food processor, which is what I had to do before I had this. Another reason to hug my KitchenAid.
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Now I know that a lot of people are apprehensive about floral flavours in desserts, and I totally understand that. I've had a few lavender desserts which were way too floral, to the point where it felt like you were eating a bucket of potpourri. But if you were looking for a recipe that might change your mind about floral desserts, this might be it. While I find lavender essence and dried lavender way too concentrated in flavour, the fresh lavender flowers work great. Also, you can control the number of flowers you use depending on how subtle you want the flavour to be. It infuses the ice cream with a light hint of lavender, which only hits you right as you put it in your mouth, and the tang of the raspberry swirls helps to cut off the aftertaste. Not everyone who tried this was a big fan, but I thought it was a unique flavour and I can imagine it tasting great with a lemon curd tart or a rhubarb pie. You could replace the raspberry swirls with strawberry, but I thought the raspberry worked great.
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Lavender & Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream
(Adapted from this Gourmet Traveller recipe, serves 6-8)
8 egg yolks
140g caster sugar
340ml milk
340ml pouring cream
1/4 bunch fresh lavender (I used about 6-8 flowers)
1 punnet (150g) fresh raspberries, or frozen & thawed
1/4 cup icing sugar

Using an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks and sugar for 2-3 minutes on high speed until pale. Meanwhile, combine milk, cream and lavender in a heavy-based saucepan, bring to the boil over medium heat, then pour over egg yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Transfer to a clean saucepan, then cook over low heat, stirring continuously until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain into a bowl placed over ice, then stir occasionally until chilled. Freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.
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Prepare the raspberry sauce, puree raspberries in a food processor or blender with icing sugar and then strain to remove the seeds. Chill in the refrigerator and then swirl mixture into the ice cream mixture in a freezer-safe container before freezing the entire mixture. Makes about 1 litre.
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26 comments:

  1. Wonderful flavor combination and I like the swirl effect. I'm yet to try out my KitchenAid ice cream attachment, bought it last year and it's still in the box!

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  2. "...pink and shiny baking"... lol love it! Yay for girly baking!

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  3. That looks SO tasty. I love floral flavours!

    --xo.

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  4. yum that sound so freakin' good i hafta try!! thanks!
    xx

    www.dragonnfruit.com

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  5. Ngaww... Warm and fuzzies. I hope you are enjoying showing off that rock on your hand. Too cute Steph!

    Yeah I'm not a huge fan of lavender desserts as, like you said, it like eating potpourri, just something that reminds you of the bathroom isn't particularly pleasant. I still haven't played with my ice cream attachment yet :( I love the swirled effect in the icecream though YUM!

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  6. I've cooked with lavender and loved it! Agree the key is to moderate the quantity to your taste. I also used fresh ones as you did and that does probably help. I like the sound of this ice cream!

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  7. stunning, delicious and a very interesting combination of flavors!

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  8. That bowl is the cutest thing ever!! This looks so pretty! Glad the ice cream attachment is a winner!! Hahaha yay for smushy happy feelings!

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  9. just wanted to comment to tell you how much i {heart} your blog. thanks for sharing so many yummy recipes.

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  10. I love the girly pink colour of the ice cream! Bring on those smushy happy feelings :)

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  11. Aww sounds like a lovely flavour for ice cream! Lavender sounds so gorgeous but I agree, I have always been put off by it whenever I've had a dessert that had lavender in it. But I guess it comes down to how you use it and how much. Yay we have the same coloured KitchenAid =))
    P.S Congrats!! <3

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  12. I'm afraid I'm one of those people with issues with floral flavours. Actually, I have issues with floral fragrances too =( But if there's raspberry involved, I could be swayed...

    The husband and I have never really done anything for Valentine's Day either!

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  13. THis looks delicious? was it easy? I have my kitchen aid and thinking about buying ice cream device!!!

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  14. Oh my, looks and sounds marvellously delicious! I almost licked the computer screen... x

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  15. I love this flavor combination. What special ice cream! Just recently I made cookies with lavender. I'm hooked.

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  16. Is there something a KitchenAid cannot do? :)

    Raspberry and lavender sounds like it'd be a nice flavour combo. It certainly looks it.

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  17. I think you should demand something special out of V-day hee hee!! If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it...

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  18. Wonderful, lavender in ice cream... I can see how it would work.. wonderful stuff

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  19. Congratulations Steph. How exciting for you.. Lavender and Raspberry what a perfect combination. Looking forward to seeing more exciting ice cream flavours coming from your new ice cream attachment.

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  20. Nothing wrong with a good dose of smushy happiness :) And lol, I used to liken lavender foods to eating soap. Moderation is definitely the key for me, but I would totally dig into a scoop of this I'm sure!

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  21. SO pretty! I for one love flowery desserts (I've even had overly lavender-y milk tea and loved it that way, tastes almost sage-y when it's oversteeped) and this sounds awesome. You've got me pining for warmer weather, I want to want ice cream!

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  22. Stunning photography! The right amount of floral accent can infuse a dessert into tasting delicious. This is one of those times, great recipe idea.

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  23. Gorgeous photos and what a fabulous frozen treat!

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  24. I love the Blackberry Lavender ice cream from the Seattle area. Unfortunately, Blackberries are not easy to come by in Alaska.
    Raspberries however are. Thanks for the great idea.

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  25. Just gorgeous, definitely a must try..

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  26. You could also try Logan berries which are so much like Blackberries, you should also only use the culinary lavender (Angustifolia) which has a sweet taste, not at all like the lavender smell you associate with the massage type oil.
    Lavender gives what the French call " the farewell taste
    the taste hits the back of your throat after you have eaten it and you take your next breath. "fascinating"

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