Avocado Icecream. What the?!

OK.  Don’t think I’m crazy.  Or joking.  This is a serious recipe.  Seriously delicious.  Seriously.

I’ve done Avocado Cookies**, where the avocado replaces half the butter, I’m working on an Avocado ‘Butter’ Cream where the avocado replaces the butter entirely, and now I present to you Avocado Ice Cream, where the avocado replaces the eggs.  No, I’m not Avocado-crazy or considering changing my name to Avocado, I just think it’s an under-appreciated ingredient outside of the guacamole bowl.  What’s not to like?  It’s creamy, rich, and full of the ‘good’ fat that we all don’t get enough of.  It may be hard to imagine the flavor of avocado being paired with anything but savory additions, but next time you slice into the yummy fruit (yes, it is a fruit), take a bite of it by itself and close your eyes.  It’s fairly sweet, all on its own.

The only catch is that you have to like that fairly sweet, unadulterated flavor of the avocado to like this ice cream.  And since I figured the end result would be a pretty pale, spring green, I decided to play up that color idea and turn it into a Lime-Mint flavored ice cream.  So you get the flavor and freshness of the mint and lime, but the avocado definitely shines.  And it does wonders to the texture of the ice cream, making it incredibly velvety.  It’s so good.  It’s so Spring.  I do hope you give it a try.

*Minty Lime Avocado Ice cream

-2 small-med avocados
-1 lime, zested & juiced
-1/3 cup fresh mint leaves + 1 TB
-1/2 cup sugar*
-1 pint/2 cups of whipping cream
-1/2 cup milk
-pinch of salt
—————-
-In a small saucepan, heat the milk, 1/3 cup mint leaves, the lime zest and the salt until it comes to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Heat slowly for 5 minutes.  Set aside.
-In a blender, remove the flesh from the avocados and place in the blender along with the lime juice, the 1 TB of mint leaves, the 1/2 cup sugar and the infused milk mixture that you’ve strained through a sieve.
-Blend until smooth.
-Place this avocado mixture into a large mixing bowl and whisk in your 2 cups of cream until fully combined.
-Cover and chill for 2-3 hours for optimum results.
-Pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.
-Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and I recommend serving it with triangles of my Cinnamon Short’nin Bread
(This ice cream doesn’t take as long as the usual kind, so check on it halfway through the churning process.)

(**Check out the cookie recipes here:  Whole Wheat-Chocolate Chip Avocookies, Oatmeal-Dark Chocolate-Ginger Avocookies, Oatmeal Raisin-Cranberry Avocookies)

(*I don’t like things incredibly sweet so the 1/2 cup is fine for me.  If you know yourself as a big sweet-lovin’ person then I recommend adding 2-3 TB extra sugar)