Unusual or Funky Ice Cream Flavours
Hi again!
I'm looking for interesting, funky, unusual ice cream/sherbet flavours. I read something online describing strawberry-tarragon, cilantro-lime, fig-rhubarb-jasmine flavours but no recipes or descriptions. These sound interesting, esp the jasmine. Has anybody else tried something like these? Or any ideas for other flavour combos to try?
I recently tried kiwi based on a previous post I saw on this site and that was unexpectedly yummy.
Cheers,
gtrekker2003
gtrekker2003
Jul 01, 2007 11:44AM
Avodaco is a great flavor for ice cream. The texture of an avodaco is perfect for ice cream. There are lots of recipes if you search it. Many gourmet ice cream places out west serve it too.
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Bobby Flay makes an interesting corn ice cream.
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I've made corn ice cream several times - it's in one of our ice cream cookbooks. Pretty good, though the texture can be a bit off-putting. We solved the problem by running it through the food processor and leaving only a few un-pulverized kernels. Much better :D
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I made blueberry lavender -- and it was delightful!
You could try the recipe here from Country Living, or use your favorite ice cream custard recipe and add in the lavender and blueberries. I found the amounts on the CL recipe were perfect.
http://www.countryliving.com/recipefi...
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Wow - this sounds great. I frequently make lavender biscuits for strawberry shortcake (from the White Dog Cafe Cookbook - yum!) and the combo is fantastic. So I would recommend substituting the blueberries in the above recipe with strawberries as a possible variation.
I've also made plain lavender ice cream from an early Rose Levy Beranbaum book - it was incredibly rich, but yummy.
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Thanks foxy fairy!
This sounds lovely. I love blueberries so much and only eat them plain. I was just thinking today what else I could do with them. I'm looking forward to this.
Cheers,
gtrekker2003
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There's a place in columbus, Ohio called Jeni's that makes blueberry-lavender ice cream that is absolutely amazing.
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Michoacan is famous for it's different ice cream flavors. At the neveria this week, I saw avocado, etole (corn), jalapeno, mamey (a sweet potato tasting fruit) along with an amazing peach ice. The peach ice was like eating frozen or slushy pureed peaches.
Oh, I forgot, there was also cacahuate ice cream (peanut)
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Look to Jeni's ice cream (best ice cream I've ever had) for inspiration:
http://www.jenisicecreams.com/0500all...
Salty caramel is fantastic.
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Another Jeni's fan here...try the Pear and Riesling sorbet sometime. Amazing.
Jeni's has officially spoiled all other ice cream for me...
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Seriously. Graeter's, shmaeters.
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Why are all the good ice cream makers in Ohio? Why oh why?
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basil...good recipe on epicurious.
earl grey tea.
look at Il Laboratorio Del Gelato's website and they have all their flavors listed...some of which are very original.
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I've seen lobster ice cream on the menu at a few places in Maine - couldn't bring myself to try it despite my unnatural love of lobster!
Also, black pepper ice cream - good if you don't go too overboard with the pepper.
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I had oyster ice cream in Paris. It would have made a really fabulous amuse. But it was WAY too odd/intense for an entire first course.
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pear and blue cheese. i used a pretty decent stilton and a few bosch pears. the ice cream was a great dance of salty/savory and sweet flavor.
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Wheat and malt are delicious. However, the only place I have ever seen them was at the Coppelia ice cream stand in downtown Havana.
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Rosendale's in Columbus serves Wasabi ice cream. Haven't tried it but it sounds pretty unique.
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We just had wasabi ice cream in Japan and it was fantastic! A little hit of heat, mixed with the creaminess of cream. I am going to make this at home. I think wasabi powder added to a basic vanilla base should do it.
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I made avocado ice cream once and it was just divine. Basically take your favorite vanilla recipe and add very ripe avocado and a couple of tablespoons of green chile minced teeny-tiny. Also, look for fresh fruit inspirations at your local farmers market or grocery. Persimmon-banana is yummy. A local favorite here is honeysuckle sorbet-wow-I have a recipe for this.
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Please post, sounds fascinating.
I haven't yet revved up my own ice cream maker, but these recipes are definitely going into the to-make notebook.
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I make persimmon ice cream in the winter. I'll have to add banana to one of the batches later this year. Thanks!
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I had Avocado Ice cream Ice cream once - it had the most amazing mouth feel, just like velvet. However it did not taste very good.
Some flavors I have had that were really good: chai; cardomon & peach; chocolate & chili, rosemary & lavender; I really like herbs in ice cream.
One of my students came up with the idea of mint, rosemary & garlic - it was disgusting! I love garlic but it does NOT belong in ice cream.
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Of course, there has long been good garlic ice cream at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
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I tried to make avocado ice cream as someone described above (using a vanilla recipe) and also did not like the taste. Then I threw that away and made up my own as I went along and it was delicious, recipe below. I really think the secret, for my taste at least, was NOT using vanilla extract, despite its inclusion in many online recipes. The vanilla just did not go with it to me. My roommates (all 7 of them) agreed.
Avocado Ice Cream
4 avocados
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups whole milk
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 generous cup heavy cream
Blend it, ice cream machine it, put it back into the avocado shells or a carton of your choice and freeze it. Note the lack of cooking and chilling - this is as fast to make as it sounds.
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Adrienne (or others)--what type of avocados did you use?
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Wow -- woops! Didn't see this. I used regular California (not Hass) avocadoes. Pretty ripe to start.
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i make avocado ice cream with a couple of ripe avocados, a can of cream of coconut, a can of coconut milk, and the juice of one lime. it is impressively good for such a quick dessert.
there's a recipe in epicurious for guiness-milk chocolate ice cream that i've been intending to try lately.
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Pizzeria Picco [in Larkspur near San Francisco] does an interesting take on vanilla ice cream by topping it with olive oil and sea salt. I've similarly had olive oil ice cream at Oliveto in Berkeley and thoroughly enjoyed both desserts. Just make sure your vanilla is really creamy (Picco uses Straus Dairy, a local purveyor) and that you use quality sea salt and olive oil--you might even want to call Picco and ask what they use.
It's a simple, fresh, and interesting take on ice cream that's easy to whip up for any occasion! I'd be impressed.
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Cat Cora made a bacon ice cream on ICA...not sure if the recipe is available anywhere, tho.
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Dave Lebovitz (former pastry chef of Chez Panisse) has a candied bacon ice cream recipe:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives...
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Although perhaps not practical for your use, the filipino ubi/purple yam ice cream is good as is their corn ice cream. Brazilians have many, many great flavors based on their fruits.
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My wife came from the Philippines, and one flavour (besides ubi) that I saw there that I have never seen outside Filipino groceries is "Qon Queso", which is essentially cheese ice cream. I am, in my wife's description, "too white" to enjoy these (I prefer chocolate and vanilla.. maybe she's right!). At any rate, if there are Filipino groceries in your town, look for Magnolia brand.
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I'd forgotten about keso. If you're too white for ubi, ask your wife if she's too kayumunggi to enjoy vanilla.
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If you make it to SF, Mitchell's has ube, along with halo halo, jackfruit, and macapuno.
http://www.mitchellsicecream.com/html...
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Check out The Ice Cream Project from haverchuk. This blogging ice-cream maker has created flavors like oatmeal raisin, rice, green chili mint, and watermelon sour cream.
http://haverchuk.blogspot.com/
Scroll down for the ice cream links (on the right).
Anne
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Best funky flavors I have had:
Avocado
Cardamom w/ Apple
Idea:
How bout a Thai Ice Tea Flavor?
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Thai iced tea-flavored ice cream has been available at several places in the SF Bay Area for a number of years now, and I have had it from Ronnybrook Farm in New York. It translates well to ice cream.
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The best homemade ice cream I've ever had was ginger. It was made with raw ginger, not candied ginger.
Asian ice cream flavours are big in parts of Canada- soursop, black sesame, durian, custard apple, lychee, peanut. Philip's Forbidden Flavours in Calgary does a slew of them.
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CafeGlace in St. Louis has a Lemon Buttermilk ice cream that is delicious. Just the right amount of lemony butter flavor.
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Unusual? Spaghetti Ice Cream. http://www.spaghettiicecream.com/Spaghetti-Ice-cream.html
Yogotango in Los Angeles makes a tomato frozen yogurt that pairs sweet and tangy quite well.
I make a gingerbread ice cream... Vanilla bean base, then I toss in crumbles of Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread (Epicurious), and swirl in a carmelized mixture of molasses, brown sugar, butter, and spices... I add the gingerbread pieces and swirl to the ice cream maker once it has started to firm up a bit.
Love pear... we used to make ice cream in college, and when I made pear, my best friend would add blue cheese crumbles on top... I did not however, given my antipathy towards blue cheese.
Butternut squash ice cream is very tasty when done with just the right amount of cinnamon, and possibly some graham cracker crumbs.
Champagne Ice Cream or Pear Champagne Sorbet
Brown Bread Ice Cream
http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com/brown_bread_ice_cream.htm
Chestnut
http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com/ice_cream_recipe_chestnut.htm
Prune
http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com/ice_cream_recipe_prune.htm
Licorice
http://www.sendicecream.com/licicecre...
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Gingerbread ice cream. Mmm... I've only tried a Ciao Bella flavor, with maple. Finished the whole pint in one sitting when I meant to have just a few spoonfuls.
Guiness ice cream sounds satisfying: http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/ind...
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We enjoyed fresh fig ice cream last night. Flecks of fig seeds and bits of whole fig folded into a french vanilla base. Spread btwn two pieces of warmed whole wheat waffle--man that's good!
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no recipies but if you have a whole foods near you check it out. Ours has a gelati bar with about 24 flavors and they are very creative with the ideas. maybe there website would be helpful?
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There's a place near my house called Izzie's that has all kind of interesting flavors. Try to make a Salty Caramel-it's an incredible pairing.
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I like to read the daily flavours list at www.capogirogelato.com for inspiration. They do a lot of the herb-and-fruit combos you mention. It's been ages since I was in Philadelphia, but last time I ate there in person, the goatsmilk rosemary & honey gelato was really lovely.
In 'water for chocolate', Laura Esquivel's classic food fiction read, she gives a recipe for jasmine sorbet that one of the characters made. I made this years ago, from flowers in my mother's garden, and it was vey refreshing. However, I've read since then that some types of jasmine are poisonous, so check you're not using the wrong type!
More recently, I've been dreaming of a jasmine tea ice cream. Will need to work on that one...
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Caraway ice cream - oh, sooooo good!
And a wonderful halva and poppy seed ice creams. All of them in Poland.
What' s interesting, when I was growing up, all they were selling there at the time were-vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Nowadays...it 's anything and everything you can imagine!
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I have a few absolutely stellar paleterias near me. One has 50 flavors on hand at all times. Notables:
Jalapeno (I've asked them to do an ancho, and a habanero)
Cornbread
prune
fig
creamy coconut (unbelievable!)
avocado
horchata
there are so many more interesting ones, BUT, they also do "Diablo Ices" which are sweet/salty/spacy hot sorbet type things like watermelon, lime, lemon - they are sour, a little sweet, and spicy hot. Many flavors of these also.
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I once had dill pickle ice cream concocted by a small creamery in southwestern Michigan. It was the only ice cream my ice-cream-mad family couldn't stomach.
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