Ice Cream!

I am completely enamored with this frozen concoction

And, now that I understand how easy it is to make it -

and make it healthy even -

I have been going like gang busters.

The first biggest decision was eggs or no eggs

Traditional French ice cream has a custard base

made with lots of egg yolks for that rich, creamy, coat your mouth ice cream

And then there is the American or Philadelphia version, with no eggs, but still really

creamy, yet lighter - and I can eat more in one sitting!

I've made ice cream with greek yogurt and strawberries,

coconut milk and cocoa

and the latest one; fresh cream, lavender and vanilla bean

The basic process is two simple ingredients:

Liquid

and

Sweetener

and for the life of me I can't figure out why all the stuff in the 

grocery stores and shops have so much crap in them.

Even a local ice cream maker uses dextrose - what?!

I use a Cuisinart, Pure Indulgence  ice cream maker

and just ordered a second freezer canister so I can 

make enough for everyone at lunch 

Here's my recipe for the

 LAVENDER, VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

(I bet it would be outrageous with shavings of dark chocolate)

3 cups fresh organic cream

1 cup organic milk (Burnt Cove carries Moo Milk!)

2/3 cup raw honey

Heavy pinch of sea salt

4 T roughly chopped lavender sprigs (stem, leaves and buds)

1 Vanilla bean, split lenghtwise

Place cream, milk, honey and salt in a medium saucepan

Bring to a low simmer, stirring occasionally

Scrap seeds from vanilla bean and stir into cream mixture

along with the bean and the lavender

Remove from heat, cover and 

chill for 4 hours.

Freeze in an ice cream maker

Eat some right away like soft serve

and freeze the remainder until firm

(over night is best)

For frozen yogurt I made a mash of fresh fruit, sweetened

with a bit of honey, add some flavorings like orange zest, pepper,

fresh mint or whatever, stir it into greek yogurt,

chill for an hour and freeze it up!

For a vegan delight I use coconut milk for the cream

you can use mashed banana for the sweetener,

Let your imagination run wild.

I haven't had anything not freeze up yet

Just taste your base before you chill it

to know if it is what you want.

Enjoy and have fun!

Kyra