Where once I might have got most of my inspiration from cookery books, food magazines and even the telly, these days a lot comes from online content. Not just other food blogs (of which I read hundreds and hundreds) but also twitter and, lately, Pinterest.
I was intrigued by the avocado and coconut sorbet my friend Uyen shared in May; she explained that avocado is often used in sweet desserts in Vietnam and that was the first time I ever entertained such an idea. After that, I seemed to spot avocado ice creams everywhere, and pinned this one from The Hill Country Cook blog to try myself.
The avocado tree, native to Central Mexico, is part of the laurel family – as are the trees from which we take cinnamon and camphor – and has a long history of cultivation in central and South America. The fruits, which are actually large berries with a single stone in each, contain soft green flesh which is high in monounsaturated fat.
The word avocado comes from the Spanish aguacate which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word ahuácatl, meaning testicle, in reference to the shape of the fruit. The modern English name of avocado was taken from the Spanish word for advocate, a way of obscuring the meaning of the original Mexican name. Interestingly, in India and parts of China it is referred to as the butter fruit, presumably because of it’s fattiness.
I followed Katie’s recipe very closely, though as the avocados I found were small, I used 5 instead of 3.
This is the first time I’ve ever had avocado in a sweet format. Although it’s quite unusual I really, really like the result!
The high fat content of the avocado makes for a wonderfully creamy and smooth ice cream. Although it freezes really hard, dipping the ice cream scoop in a mug of hot water helps carve servings from the tub and it’s instantly smooth in the mouth.
Avocado Ice Cream
Ingredients
5 small avocados
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup double cream
3 cups whole milk
1.5 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
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Measure out the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice into a blender.
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Halve the avocados, remove the stones and scoop flesh out and add it to other ingredients.
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Blend until completely smooth.
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Pour into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.
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Serve immediately or transfer to the freezer to solidify further.
As you can see, I retained the avocado skins and used them for serving. If you would like to do this, make sure you scrape out every last scrap of flesh and wash thoroughly. Stuff the skins with balls of foil to help them retain their shape as they dry and on the draining board. My skins were washed and dried just after I made the ice cream and I used them as serving bowls two days later.
This is my entry for June’s Bloggers Scream For Ice Cream.
Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!30 Comments to "Avocado Ice Cream"
I love this Kavey! I used avocado for a cupcake frosting earlier in the year (see here: http://comfortbites.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/chocolate-and-avocado-cupcakes-we.html) and it made me realise that avocado can be used for sweet dishes too. Love the sound of that ice cream – I’m definitely giving this a try, thanks for posting 🙂
Choc and avocado sounds good to me. Let me know how you like the ice cream!
I think I would love this and imagine it to be really smooth and creamy in texture. The colour is gorgeous. I notice I have the same ice cream maker as you too!
Great idea to keep the skins and use them as bowls, I struggle to think of novel ways to present my ice cream :-0
I’m usually not great at presentation, but this idea came to me as I was scooping out the avocado flesh… didn’t know if it would work or whether they’d just rot but after cleaning them carefully, they did dry out fine. One I didn’t shape properly curved into itself on drying and they set solid in the shape they dry in.
Wow I certainly would not have thought of this combination at all but given that I love avocados and love ice-cream I can see it would work!
Hope you try it Cara!
I love the presentation of the ice cream in the avocado skin – so effective. Also having serious envy over your worktop ice cream maker.
Thanks, so happy with the presentation, for once.
The ice cream maker was originally loaned to me for review but after a couple of months, they contacted me to say they were giving it to me for keeps. 🙂
Yum I’ve never tasted avocado ice cream, but it sounds amazing – I bet it’s super creamy!
Yes very creamy!
This is brilliant! I love how you skim over the origins of the name 😉 And to think I may have loudly shouted “I love avocados”
Taking the serving idea one step further, it might be rather fun to fill the avocado skin with the ice cream, flatten the surface, and make a little dip to put a scoop of chocolate ice cream in – like the stone. Might that work? Or hazelnut ice cream? Avocado reconstruction. Will definitely give your recipe a whirl!
Like shouting that you love lawyers!!!
If you did that when the ice cream was still soft out of the ice cream machine you could shape it that way for sure, though not after it’s set solid in the freezer. Would look cute!
I’m glad you liked it! I enjoyed reading the history of avocados. I also use avocados to make chocolate chip cookies for a “half fat” cookie… it really has close to full fat, but at least it’s healthier!
Oh interesting, thanks for idea!
Avocado ice cream? Yes please! They serve it in the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin, Texas. When I lived a few blocks away, I definitely abused the free samples. 🙂
I would have done the same, I’m sure!
Love avocado ice cream- we had plenty of avocado thickshakes in Morocco- I’ve found a quick easy way to make a parfait is to blend condensed milk with avocado flesh and then freeze…
Keep your eyes on next month’s BSFIC then!
This is one of the coolest ideas I’ve heard of for a while. Can imagine it going down crazy in Mexico! I now just have to get an ice cream maker as I am way too lazy to hand churn.
Do try it, hope you like!!
Hey, I think I’ve just spotted a Thermomix didn’t I ?!?! Right on — keep on mixing. I am having quite the thrill discovering your blog 😉
Yes, you absolutely did! I had a loan one for a couple of months!
I am so intrigued by this ice cream! This sounds so interesting! I must try it!
Enjoy!
I have a surplus of avocados (here in Spain) and there’s only so much salad and guac I can whip up, so here’s to whipping up Ice cream. Great to discover your blog Kavey, some great ideas. Also love Nicola’s idea of presenting it like a real avo, I may just try that. Or could dig out those avocado dishes my mother gave me from the 70s!
Yes, such a lovely idea! Something magnificently retro about avos, perhaps simply because they had a surge of popularity in the 70s too. Love them!
Tried it. Loved it. I think most people would turn their nose up at the idea, but using avocados makes perfect sense when you think about how creamy they are. Only my second effort at ice cream making and I’ll definitely be doing this one again. Planning to gift my mum (who loves avocados) a tub too. Thanks very much Kavey.
So happy to hear you loved it and hope your mum will too!
Oooh lovely! I love the sound of this!
I really liked it and very unusual!