This Lavender Rose Ice Cream is so delicate, light, and ethereal. The floral tones melt in your mouth in perfect unity.
With this recipe, my transition into Official Old Lady is complete.
The truth is, I’ve had old lady tendencies my whole life. One of my favorite hobbies is talking scornfully about kids these days, and I’ve been yelling at (proverbial) punks to get off my (proverbial) lawn for at least the last decade. I’m basically one Matlock episode shy of a nursing home. However, nothing says “little old lady” like a fondness for food that tastes like lotion smells.
I used to be staunchly anti-floral anything. But gradually—I don’t know when this shift occurred—I changed my mind. I think it started when I made a batch of raspberry-rose truffles. “These aren’t so bad,” I thought. “In fact…they’re quite good. They’re delicious.” In retrospect, those truffles were obviously trouble, and I should have known raspberry was a gateway food.
Pretty soon I was infusing lavender into chocolate pies and adding rose whipped cream to pistachio tarts with wild abandon. With this recipe, though, I’ve given up all pretense of the floral flavor being a supporting player and put it front and center, with not one but TWO flowers lending this smooth ice cream their light, spring-y flavor.
Your enjoyment of this ice cream will depend on whether you have Old Person Tastebuds like me, but if you do—watch out! I couldn’t stop eating this. It’s so delicate, so light, so ethereal, it’s easy to chow down and demolish a bowl without realizing it. (Don’t worry—it’s nothing a little mall walking in my most stylish sweat suit can’t fix.)
This ice cream is perfect plain, or you could serve it with buttery shortbread cookies, berry desserts, or perhaps some kind of pistachio or almond cake. Maybe scoop yourself a big bowl while watching a Murder, She Wrote marathon? Just a thought.
Still looking for more ways to lavender your life? Try my easy Lavender Sugar Recipe. You’ll also love my all inclusive Guide to Baking with Lavender where I explain everything you need to know about culinary lavender.
More Floral Desserts🌸
- Watercolor Rose Sugar Cookies
- Lavender Lemon Bars
- Rosemary Raspberry Truffles
- Lavender Hot Chocolate
- Pear Pistachio Tart with Rosemary Crust
Lavender Simple Syrup
Raspberry-Rose Cake
Lavender Rose Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2 TBSP culinary dried lavender
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 5 large egg yolks
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 TBSP rose water, or more to taste
- purple gel food coloring, optional
- Candy thermometer, optional
Instructions
- Combine the cream, milk, and lavender in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the cream to a simmer, then remove the pan from the heat and cover it with a lid. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, to infuse the cream with lavender flavor.
- After 30 minutes, add the sugar and salt to the bowl of cream and whisk them together, then put the cream back on medium heat. Put the egg yolks in a medium bowl nearby and whisk them gently. Bring the milk/cream mixture to a simmer, then when it just starts to come to a boil, remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks while you slowly pour in about a third of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs heat up but don’t cook during the process.
- Now return the saucepan to the heat and start whisking the cream while you pour in the hot egg mixture. Continue to whisk as the custard cooks, and cook it until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. If you want to use a candy thermometer, you’re shooting for 175 F (80C).
- Take the pan from the heat and strain the ice cream custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, to strain out the lavender and any bits of cooked egg. Whisk in the rose water, and a drop or two of purple food coloring, if desired. (Depending on the shade of your coloring, you might want to add a drop or two of pink as well, to give it more of a lavender-rose shade.) Continue to whisk occasionally as it cools.
- Once at room temperature, press a layer of cling wrap on top of the custard and refrigerate it until it’s completely chilled. (To speed up the process, you can place the bowl over an ice bath and whisk it as it cools down.)
- Once the custard is fully chilled, churn the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
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Hi Elizabeth, I have a procedural question for you… Should the sugar and salt be whisked into the CREAM or into the EGG YOLKS?
I expected the sugar/salt to be whisked with the egg yolks until pale and slightly thickened, but to my surprise, paragraph 2 says to “add the sugar and salt to the bowl of cream and whisk”. There was never an instruction to put the cream in a bowl, though, and the next instruction is to reheat the cream. By that point all I could think was, “Reheat a bowl? What?”
So am I badly misreading paragraph 2, or is there actually something out of place?? Help! =)
Mmmmmmm! Speaking as an actual official-pension-collecting old lady, I am so making this ice cream – my favourite food group and the ingredients are all available in my tiny pantry. I’ve not yet employed my food grade lavender or still sealed rose water. Thanks for this!
This was the best thing I have ever eaten it was like heaven in my mouth
I made this yesterday. It is incredibly smooth! I would’ve liked a more delicate flavor but that is just a matter of reducing the lavender. I left out the food coloring.
I am an old lady & l love the lavender & rose & tge basil ice cream!
Love this with the rose water, but experimenting with lemon as the second flavor. Fresh lemon juice and zest. Loving this with a slice of fresh butter cake with a lemon lavender glaze drizzle.
Yumm that sounds amazing. I’ll have to give that a try myself.
Thinking lemon with candied ginger ice cream …? Or lavender ice cream sandwiched between soft lemon cookies?
Hi, I was wondering if you could please tell me what culinary lavender you bought? Will gladly use your affiliate link just really need one that’s going to come out this beautifully purple!
This ice cream looks sooo delish and can’t wait to try it. My family absolutely loves lavender ice cream ever since we had one at a farm few years back. I had a question, I have a lavender plant growing in my backyard but I don’t know if it’s a flowering type, don’t see any flowers so far. It has tons of leaves though. Small and some look stubby. Do you think I can use those leaves in any way in this recipe?
Some lavender is not edible so be careful. I was able to buy edible lavender in a bottle through walmart.
Edible vs culinary lavender
https://www.google.com/search?q=culinary+vs+edible+lavender&rlz=1C1RUCY_enUS787US787&oq=culinary+vs+edible+lave&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33i160l2.13412j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Without egg we can prepare this ice cream. So If yes can you share me the recipe
Hello there! The egg yolks are an important ingredient in this recipe, so I wouldn’t leave them out! However, I will be coming out with an egg-free homemade ice cream that could be adapted in the next month! Stay tuned 🙂
Ohhhh YUM. I’d also love to know more about the china you put the ice cream in! Such a pretty pattern,
Hi Maria. I really hope you enjoy the recipe. It’s delish! The china is by Sango and is the Wood Violet pattern. All the best!