I follow Cannelle et Vanille on Instagram, since I love Aran’s food photography and interesting ideas. I was ecstatic when her book came out last year and promptly purchased it. I have made a few recipes from it; and it has inspired me to create some of my own.
Today is one of those days where I drew inspiration from one of her photographs. Aran posted some gorgeous strawberries with thyme (much prettier than mine, as she’s a professional food photographer!), that she was preparing to roast. And since I had two packages of strawberries that were threatening to go bad on me, I thought what a perfect idea…for some ice cream!
I wanted something super creamy, like a custard… so I used egg yolks in this recipe. If you’re worried about raw eggs.. don’t be. They are cooked.
None of my other ice cream recipes are made with eggs, except the rhubard semifreddo; and I must say the custard makes this ice cream spectacular! In fact, it’s so creamy that after putting it through the ice cream maker, I had to freeze it a bit longer to make it hard enough to scoop.
However, after being in the freezer overnight, it was hard as a rock. So, I put it out to defrost a bit and forgot all about it… so instead of putting it through the ice cream maker again, I decided to make popsicles.
They are a bit tangy, as I didn’t add much sweetener on purpose, since my intention was to pair the ice cream with a balsamic reduction. So, if you like things sweeter, just add more honey.
For a slight variation (last photograph): make an extra batch of roasted strawberries with the coconut sugar and blend with the immersion blender. Place this puree into the popsicle molds first. Freeze until it solidifies. Then place the strawberry custard mixture on top of that. Add some more of the roasted strawberry puree and insert a popsicle stick. Freeze again until solid. You will get a more colourful popsicle and also one with more intense flavours!
- For the ice cream:
- 300g strawberries (about 2 cups cut)
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 cups coconut milk (if using canned, make sure it’s full fat)
- 1/4 cup raw honey (more for a sweeter version)
- 1/2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 3 egg yolks
- pinch of sea salt
- For the ice cream:
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Clean the strawberries and take the stems off. Cut in halves.
- Place them on a double sheet of parchment paper on a cookie tray or in an ovenproof dish.
- Drizzle with the lemon juice, zest and coconut sugar.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- In the meantime, in a pot over very low heat, mix the coconut milk and honey and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Beat the egg yolks in a glass bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of the hot milk into the yolks, stirring constantly with a whisk.
- Add the arrowroot into the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Add a bit more hot coconut milk if necessary.
- Pour into the hot milk and continue cooking over very low heat until the sauce thickens and becomes a custard, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool. Should you need to strain it, do so, while it’s warm, but not hot (you could burn yourself).
- Place the caramelised strawberries (with all the liquid, but remember to discard any lemon seeds) in the immersion blender or electric blender bowl. Pulse to liquify.
- Add the cooled custard and pulse to mix well.
- Add a pinch of sea salt and mix well.
- For popsicles:
- Pour the mixture in the popsicle molds and freeze.
- For ice cream:
- Place the entire mixture in your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to churn.
- If you do not have an ice cream machine, don’t fret. Simply place the mixture into a sealable freezer container and freeze for about 4 hours, stirring every once in a while to avoid crystallization.
- For a slight variation (last photograph): make an extra batch of the roasted strawberries and blend with the immersion blender. Place this puree into the popsicle molds first. Freeze until it solidifies. Then place the strawberry custard mixture on top of that. Add some more of the roasted strawberry puree and insert a popsicle stick. Freeze again until solid. You will get a more colourful popsicle and also one with more intense flavours!
I love all different recipes of all different types of food and desserts so please I will be looking forward to all your recipes so my family can enjoy all new ideas to eat and enjoy so hurry cause everything looks delicious can’t wait to try!!!
Thank you Dawn! I’m very eager to start sharing more things with everyone too! As soon as my mother is better, I can concentrate on the blog again! <3 Debra xx