Roasted Apricot & Honey Ice Cream
Friends, Trieste is sizzling. It’s too hot to move, sleep, eat, think and be still. Meals around here have been really simple, to the tune of this, this, this and lots and lots of this. Oh and ice cream. I shared the recipes for dairy free vegan friendly and refined sugar free Coconut Cherry and Dark Chocolate Hazelnut to my Facebook page and instagram stories a little while ago, ICYMI.
Today, I’m sharing this Roasted Apricot & Honey Ice Cream, 3 Ways. You can churn it in the ice cream maker, use the no churn method, or just pour it into ice pop molds and enjoy it that way. It’s creamy, sweet yet tangy, and delicious in all it’s forms. A great way to use in season apricots.
Apricots and orange fruits and vegetables are loaded with carotenoids, yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants. The most common carotenoids are alpha carotene, beta carotene, beta cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene.
Alpha Carotene, Beta Carotene and Beta Cryptoxanthin are percursors to vitamin A, which means they are converted to vitamin A in the body, which is essential for immune system function, normal growth and development of young children and preventing night blindness.
Lutein and zeaxanthin have been shown to help maintain good eye sight by filtering blue light and protecting against age related eye disease.
Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and scavenger of free radicals.
Apricots, like carrots, mangoes, cantaloupes, pumpkin, squash and sweet potatoes are particularly rich in Alpha Carotene
The good news is that Carotenoids are relatively heat stable and lend themselves very well to a variety of cooking methods. They are best absorbed with a source of fat like extra virgin olive oil to optimize nutrient absorption.
To learn more about all the colourful rainbow of vegetables, check out this post.
Now, let’s talk about this apricot ice cream.
The apricots are roasted (I’m sorry, I know we’re in the midst of a global heatwave, but I promise you it will be worth it) and blended with a cashew coconut cream base, which is then aromatized with orange blossom water and bourbon vanilla, and sweetened with a thick and creamy local raw honey.
It’s all you need in a heatwave!
Roasted Apricot & Honey Ice Cream
Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com
- Time 40 minutes + chilling time
- Difficulty Easy
- Diet vegan, gluten free,
- Category Dessert, Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 400 g Apricots (about 10-12)
- 400 ml Coconut Milk (from a can)
- 75g (1/2 C) Cashews
- 80 ml Thick Creamy Honey*
- 1 Tsp Orange Blossom Water
- 1/2 Tsp Bourbon Vanilla Powder
*If you don't eat honey, you can replace it with brown rice malt syrup, but it will have a different flavour profile.
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200 °C.
- Halve the apricots and remove the seed, then place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes until caramelized and fragrant.
- Blend remaining ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy. If you don't have a high speed blender, be sure to soak your cashews overnight for best results.
- Add half the apricots to the blender with the cream base and run on high speed until completely smooth.
- Add the other half of the apricots and pulse to break them down, but don't purée them until fully smooth unless you prefer it that way.
- Transfer to a container with a lid and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Transfer to a freezer safe container with a lid and place in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and stir every hour until creamy and scoopable.
- Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for gelato on a stick.
- If you have an ice cream maker, you can also churn it in there by following the instructions that came with your machine. It's certainly faster, but the other two methods produce equally deliciious and creamy results.
