Lavender, honey and goat cheese ice cream

In our How to make Lavender Sugar post, I wrote a section with “riffs on the lavender theme:”  a few more ideas and thoughts for lavender in recipes. When I suggested making a Lavender, honey, and goat cheese ice cream, I wondered if that was a too complicated idea. Low and behold, a few of you commented that you’d love to see this recipe. Ask and you shall receive, Hipcooks! And lucky me, I got to enjoy this delicious ice cream “in sacrifice” for this blog post.

Lavender, honey, and goat cheese ice cream is my kind of dessert. It’s intriguingly floral (meaning, not too much!), not too sweet and delightfully tangy. I’m not one for overly sweet things. Ice cream is often so. This one balances the hint of sweetness with a bit of acidity, coming from lemon and goat cheese. It is sophisticated and complex — just like me (right?!)

To give the ice cream a bit of color, I plopped in a few blackberries to the custard base. This is not necessary, although I personally like the resulting pale purple color.

No ice cream maker? No problem! Here’s a Lavender Granita recipe. It’s refreshing and delightful, and it requires no special equipment!

Lavender, honey and goat cheese ice cream

Print Recipe

 : serves 6 Prep Time: 40 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.8/5

( 4 voted )

Ingredients

3 cups milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1¼ cup cream
¼ cup honey
a handful of lavender blossoms, or a teaspoon of dried lavender
2½ ounces room temperature goat cheese

 

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix a couple of tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch until it's dissolved. Set it aside.

In a large pot, add the rest of the milk, cream, honey and lavender, and heat. Let this mixture come to a simmer, turn off the heat, and stir in the cornstarch slurry. Stir for about a minute, until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the goat cheese. Let it sit for a minute or two and stir until smooth. Allow it to cool and churn in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Notes

This recipe requires an ice cream maker.