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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Wow, not everyone is in the “know” on rose water……I see no explanation here of what it is, not even a hyperlink…so should I just grab a handful of rose petals from my “seven sisters” variety of rose bush and steep them in hot water???? Do miniature roses taste better? because I have those too…
And the food coloring in this recipe is just unnecessary fluff, it actually detracts from the presentation rather than enhance.
Aging is a privledge that is suppose to bring wisdom from life experienced. Experience has taught me that sugary treats should be taken sparingly, this preserves their status as delightful treats. Consuming copious amounts of sugar, late in life, is the equivalent of begging for health problems. There is a difference between being a sad little old lady or a wise-woman powerfully living out her crone phase. While the anecdotal introduction to this recipe is amusing, it paints a picture of the “proverbial” old woman that I will never be, not even at age of 83!
Hi Tonya, you’re right, I should have explained what rose water is. It’s a culinary ingredient made from roses that has a lovely light rose flavor. (Wikipedia says it’s “the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals.” I don’t know what that means.) There are probably ways of making it yourself, but I’ve never done it. I buy mine at my local grocery store, in the Middle Eastern food aisle. It’s also available on Amazon and I’m sure other websites as well:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=rose%20water&sprefix=rose+wa%2Cgrocery&rh=i%3Agrocery%2Ck%3Arose%20water
The food coloring is definitely optional but we’ll have to agree to disagree–I personally like the lavender color as a signifier of the ice cream’s flavor. Different strokes!
You can buy rose water at pharmacies
Oh, and please do not mistake my earlier comment as disrespect. I see and applaud that you are an accomplished and published pastry chef. However this declaration of yours that pops up on every page of this website; ” I eat ridiculous amounts of sugar on a regular basis & I’m not sorry about it.” replete with an invitation to “join you”, along with your stereotypical idea of what constitutes an old woman, perpetuates over-indulgence in an already over-indulgent society and seems to imply that over-consumption of sweet treats is some kind of reward for getting old.
Congratulations on the gift of a beautiful and healthy child as children are indeed spiritual gifts of the highest order. Hopefully when you’ve raised that perfect being up to the age of 24, you will by then have a clue to what being an “old lady” really is…
I love ice cream but never head about this flavor. The only flavor I know how to made is vanilla because it simple and easy to do. Maybe I will try it someday.hmm lavender sound good. Anyway thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thank you so much Elizabeth!
I may have turned Old Lady years ago – this is right up my alley! srupmtious and delightful, thank you for sharing 🙂
I love lavender and rose scents, but edible lavenders and roses?! Count me in 🙂
–I will definitely try these out, but first thing’s first, MUST.BUY.ICE CREAM MAKER!
http://www.mycurvesandlashes.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks Shanna! I have to say, I’m not one to advocate buying a million kitchen gadgets, but I always recommend an ice cream maker–it’s the gift that keeps on giving! Let me know what you think if you give it a try! 🙂
yaaaaammmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyy, i just love to eat ice cream and this rose ice cream make me crazy! aha but Thanks for Great Article 🙂
Thanks Bilal! It’s definitely one of my family’s favorites. Let me know what you think if you give it a try!
Thank you so much Elizabeth!
OMG. I inherited a full set of English china from my grandmother. The pattern is called Lavender Rose. Now I’ve got to make this & serve it in the china. 🙂
Uh, YES, it must be done! It’s a sign that ice cream is in your future!!
Can I just say how fantastic this ice cream sounds? Lavender and rose just sounds like perfection!
Thanks Miranda! I never get tired of lavender desserts. 🙂
Is this recipe in one of your books?
Hi, my book is focused on candy recipes, so no, this one isn’t in the book. 🙂