Lavender Ice Cream

It's summer. It's hot. It's ice cream time.

And who doesn't love ice cream with a floral twist?

This backyard ice cream recipe is fun and easy, making it a great activity to do with kids.

And if lavender isn't your flavour of choice, try substituting spearmint, lemon balm, blueberries, blackberries, or any other fresh local ingredient.

You will need:

• 1 tbsp sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup half-and-half (10%) or table cream (18%)
• 6 sprigs fresh organic lavender OR 1 tbsp dried lavender buds OR 2 drops lavender essential oil
• 3 tbsp coarse or pickling salt
• Lots of ice cubes
• Sandwich size freezer bags
• 2L size round drinking cooler or one large coffee tin

Stir together sugar, vanilla, cream and lavender sprigs in a small bowl. Transfer to Ziploc bag, sealing securely.

Fill cooler or large coffee tin ¾ full with ice cubes and sprinkle the salt over the ice. Place the small bag in the middle of the ice (you may place up to 3 sandwich sized bags in one container). Seal your container shut.

Shake your container or roll it around on a table or the ground for about 10 minutes. Check to see if cream is frozen (you don’t need to remove the bags to do this). If not, continue rolling for another 5 minutes!

Once the cream is frozen, remove the bags from the container, rinse the salt off the outside of the bags, remove the lavender sprigs (if you used any), scoop your freshly made ice cream into a cone and enjoy!

Interested in enjoying the flavour without the hassle? If you're in Kelowna, pop into Sandrine French Pastry for Lavender Gelato, made with our farm-grown and distilled lavender essential oil!