Lavender Ice Cream for a Picnic in Provence

On my bucket list is a trip to Provence during the summer months. I’ve always had a love affair with Provence and all things related to this French town (including lavender ice cream), but thanks to modern tales like Picnic in Provence, this romance has taken on a fervor it lacked before.

Lavender Ice Cream

The abundance of farmers markets, the gorgeous countryside backdrop, and the delicately infused lavender ice cream that you can find there has my heart pitter-pattering for this French destination.

I imagine that the day I visit Provence, I will be spending much of my time shopping at the markets and making stops at artisanal ice cream shops.

Until then, I can happily say that I’ve gotten my lavender ice cream fix with this easy, no-churn ice cream recipe.

The recipe was inspired by one I had seen on Half Baked Harvest, with lavender and blackberries.

I tend to enjoy a more subtle lavender flavor so I use less lavender in my recipe. When there’s too much lavender in lavender ice cream, it can end up tasting like you’re just eating a pile of lavender flowers.

But if you’re absolutely in love with the flavor of lavender, feel free to double the amount of lavender used in this recipe.

No-churn ice cream is a really brilliant solution (that I can’t take credit for) for people (like me) who don’t own ice cream machines.

It’s amazing what you can do with some whipping cream and a can of sweetened condensed milk.

If you’re new to no-churn ice cream, the basic gist is that heavy whipping cream gets whisked into actual whipped cream before it’s gently folded into some sweetened condensed milk. Any extra flavors or ingredients you want to add, such as the lavender and blackberries that we use for this recipe, get stirred in as well.

Then it’s just a matter of waiting for the mixture to chill in the freezer until it’s firm like ice cream.

The blackberries in this recipe give this lavender ice cream their wonderful purple hue, while adding a little blackberry flavor and texture. I like the speckled look of the ice cream from the blackberries as well.

While picnicking in Provence may not be in my immediate future, I can definitely visualize myself there with a scoop of this lavender ice cream!

Lavender Ice Cream

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Homemade, no-churn ice cream flavored with lavender and fresh blackberries. 

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp dried lavender buds
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 7 oz . sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup blackberries, mashed

Instructions

1. Begin by creating the lavender infusion. Warm the milk over medium-low heat in a small saucepan until the milk is just beginning to simmer. Lower the heat to low, add the dried lavender buds and let the buds rest in the milk over low heat for approximately 5 minutes. Pour this mixture into a small bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cool.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla extract, then continue to whisk on high speed until stiffer peaks form.
3. Add the sweetened condensed milk to the whipped cream, and gently fold the condensed milk into the cream using a rubber spatula.
4. Strain the lavender milk using a sieve, tossing the lavender buds away, leaving the infused milk to be used. Add this milk to the whipped cream-condensed milk batter. Add in the mashed blackberries. Gently stir everything together to combine.
5. Pour the batter into a loaf pan, then directly cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Freeze until firm - about 4 hours.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 6 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 295