I’ve been wanting to make an avocado lime ice cream for a long time now. The flavours seem so summery, and since baking delicious summer zucchini and carrot cupcakes that also contained avocados, I’ve been reawakened to the joys and possibilities of turning avocados into tasty desserts.

This weekend, the last of the summer, is an opportunity to embrace summer flavours and have last one hot weather hurrah. I know, I know, generally September is hot too (remember when you’d have bought a fabulous new back-to-school jacket and it would be WAY too hot to wear it but you’d wear it anyways because it was part of your new look?), but there is something extra special about making this ice cream as part of a delicious summer send-off.

This recipe – which I took from GI365’s lovely blog – makes magic for a variety of reasons. I shall now be insufferably cute by naming 5 reasons (one for each of the 5 ingredients – awww!) you should consider making this amazing vegan ice cream now, or at least, for your next dinner party/barbeque/business meeting/road trip/day in your pyjamas:

1. avocados and limes are so beautifully green and you will marvel with every tangy sweet bite how a colour so beautiful could also be 100% natural;
2. avocado and limes have done savoury in guacamole – now is their time for sweet;
3. avocado is mellow and creamy; lime is tangy and fruity. Together, they create a blend of complementary flavours and textures, which makes for a very addictive dessert;
4. this ice cream is naturally-sweetened; also, avocados contain healthy fats and antioxidants, coconut milk has good-for-you medium chain fatty assets, and lime juice is alkaline and has Vitamin C – I’m not saying this makes this ice cream the equivalent of a kale smoothie, but it does mean there is some healthy stuff happening at the same time as the delicious stuff;
5. aside from requiring an ice cream maker and a blender, this ice cream is really easy to make. No additional thickening, cooling, or heating required to get this ice cream from peel to spoon.

Avocado & Lime Coconut Milk Ice Cream

• Author: GI365 – view the original recipe for Coconut Lime Ice Cream
• Recipe Notes: vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free, naturally-sweetened

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon lime zest (preferably from an organic lime)
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 can (or slightly less – it still works!) full-fat organic coconut milk + 1/4 cup water
• 2 ripe avocados, peeled

Instructions:

1. Whisk together lime juice, zest, maple syrup, coconut milk, and water.
2. Add peeled avocados and using an immersion blender, blend until avocados are fully pureed. If you don’t have an immersion blender, toss the entire mixture into a regular blender.
3. Pour the blended lime-avocado mix into an ice cream mixture and freeze according to instructions. Usually this means mixing for 20 to 30 minutes in the ice cream maker and then firming up in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
4. Before serving, remove from freezer and let soften at room temperature for 20 minutes.
5. Serve in your favourite (vegan) waffle cones, waffle bowls, sugar cones, or just dish it up in whatever vessel you have hanging around!

© Eat Well, Live Vibrantly