Sitting out on picnic table in the sunshine, eating ice cream after running through the sprinkler. This was an important part of summer to me when I was a kid. I loved any kind of ice cream...peppermint bon bon, sherberts, cookie dough, strawberry, peach, chocolate...I ate them all! I would even scoop them all into one bowl if I had the option to! I loved to load them up with toppings as well. I can remember being at my Dad's house when I was about eight making myself an ice cream sundae. I grabbed everything and anything ice cream related or that could be used as a topping and started crafting my masterpiece. I scooped 3 different ice creams into a bowl. Peppermint Bon Bon, Strawberry, and Moose Tracks. I then loaded it up with fudge, caramel and reddi whip. Not to stop there however, I topped it off with M&Ms and chocolate chips. It was a monster bowl of ice cream, and I ate it all! Looking back on it, it sounds way too sweet and kind of disgusting to me now, but I was in heaven at the time!
My tastes have drastically changed and I am no longer into that overly sweet stuff. I much prefer things which are made sweet by fruit instead of just sugar, and I am in love with coconut milk based ice creams instead of the dairy I used to indulge in all the time. And so recently when I was looking through photos of the ice cream on my blog, I thought, wouldn't it be lovely to create a sundae featuring fruit and herbs?
I had recently made lemon basil ice cream and it was so refreshing that I knew it would be perfect among the other ice creams in the sundae. I also whipped up a batch of raspberry lavender and peach thyme. They were all wonderfully fragrant and just sweet enough, but not overly so.
I spooned them into one of my Grandmother's antique dishes, and topped them off with a bit of fresh raspberry sauce, crunchy pistachios, and a mixture of fruits I happened to have on hand.
It was the most beautiful sundae I had ever layed eyes on...almost too pretty to eat! You may be wondering if I ate this concoction myself or shared, as it was a rather large bowl. I ate every last bite myself! It was too good to share...that bowl at least.
Luckilly I had enough ice cream leftover to share some. Who says ice cream sundaes have to be overly sweet and dripping with gooey sauces? Light and refreshing is so wonderful especially when it is near 100 degrees and you don't want to be feeling heavy.
Fruits of Summer Ice Cream Sundae
peach thyme ice cream:
makes 5 cups
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
3 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 medium fresh organic peaches, diced
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a blender combine all ingredients, and process until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to package directions (mine takes about an hour, and is still a little soupy like the consistency of a malt, but firms up in the freezer later). Once processed, pour into a freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.
raspberry lavender ice cream:
Makes 5 cups
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp dried lavender, divided
2 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled
3/4 cup agave nectar
12 oz fresh organic raspberries or 12 oz bag frozen raspberries
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup lite coconut milk to a simmer and remove from heat. Add 1 Tbsp dried lavender flowers and stir in. Let cool, then chill in the fridge until very cold to let lavender infuse. Strain coconut milk, discarding lavender then add chilled milk to a blender, along with all other ingredients (except remaining 1 Tbsp dried lavender) in a blender, and process until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to package directions (mine takes about an hour, and is still a little soupy like the consistency of a malt, but firms up in the freezer later). Once processed, stir in remaining Tbsp lavender and pour into a freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.
My tastes have drastically changed and I am no longer into that overly sweet stuff. I much prefer things which are made sweet by fruit instead of just sugar, and I am in love with coconut milk based ice creams instead of the dairy I used to indulge in all the time. And so recently when I was looking through photos of the ice cream on my blog, I thought, wouldn't it be lovely to create a sundae featuring fruit and herbs?
I had recently made lemon basil ice cream and it was so refreshing that I knew it would be perfect among the other ice creams in the sundae. I also whipped up a batch of raspberry lavender and peach thyme. They were all wonderfully fragrant and just sweet enough, but not overly so.
I spooned them into one of my Grandmother's antique dishes, and topped them off with a bit of fresh raspberry sauce, crunchy pistachios, and a mixture of fruits I happened to have on hand.
It was the most beautiful sundae I had ever layed eyes on...almost too pretty to eat! You may be wondering if I ate this concoction myself or shared, as it was a rather large bowl. I ate every last bite myself! It was too good to share...that bowl at least.
Luckilly I had enough ice cream leftover to share some. Who says ice cream sundaes have to be overly sweet and dripping with gooey sauces? Light and refreshing is so wonderful especially when it is near 100 degrees and you don't want to be feeling heavy.
Fruits of Summer Ice Cream Sundae
peach thyme ice cream:
makes 5 cups
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
3 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 medium fresh organic peaches, diced
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a blender combine all ingredients, and process until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to package directions (mine takes about an hour, and is still a little soupy like the consistency of a malt, but firms up in the freezer later). Once processed, pour into a freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.
raspberry lavender ice cream:
Makes 5 cups
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp dried lavender, divided
2 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled
3/4 cup agave nectar
12 oz fresh organic raspberries or 12 oz bag frozen raspberries
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup lite coconut milk to a simmer and remove from heat. Add 1 Tbsp dried lavender flowers and stir in. Let cool, then chill in the fridge until very cold to let lavender infuse. Strain coconut milk, discarding lavender then add chilled milk to a blender, along with all other ingredients (except remaining 1 Tbsp dried lavender) in a blender, and process until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to package directions (mine takes about an hour, and is still a little soupy like the consistency of a malt, but firms up in the freezer later). Once processed, stir in remaining Tbsp lavender and pour into a freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.
lemon basil ice cream:
Makes 4 cups
3 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
3 Tbsp organic lemon zest
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to package directions (mine takes about an hour, and is still a little soupy like the consistency of a malt, but firms up in the freezer later). Once processed, pour into freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least a few hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.
Raspberry Sauce:
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Puree all ingredients until smooth.
For assembly:
1/4 cup pistachios (each sundae)
assorted fresh organic fruit (I used raspberries, blackberries, peaches, and strawberries)
fresh basil and thyme leaves
To assemble, scoop 2 scoops of each ice cream into an obling bowl. Top with a bit of raspberry puree, pistachios, fresh fruit, and herbs. Enjoy!
