Summer Time is Ice Cream Time

I love ice cream, especially during summer. I can eat a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked and end up wanting more. Luckily, there are a lot of great ice cream parlors in Minneapolis. Izzy's, Sebastian Joe's, Pumphouse Creamery, etc.. They all make unique ice cream flavors, such as summit oatmeal stout and Mexican chocolate,  and most of them are very delicious. However, sometimes I crave for the most unusual flavor for people from the western hemisphere: Avocado Chocolate.. Yes, avocado chocolate ice cream. Sounds weird? Well, not for me. See, we eat our avocadoes sweet Indonesia, not with onions and jalapenos. We usually blend avocadoes with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate/mocha syrup, and ice or mix those ingredients together to make ice cream. Trust me, it makes a superb dessert for a hot summer day. Despite the abundance of ice cream parlors in Minneapolis, none has avocado ice cream. One Chinese restaurant actually has avocado smoothie on its menu, but I feel like they put so much ice that the avocado flavor is kind of diluted. So, I decided to make my own!

Last weekend, I went to the farmers market with my friends and bought some ripe avocadoes for really cheap price. Another good deal that I found was a pint of organic blueberries for $2. Hmm... blueberry cheesecake ice cream, yummm.... I just bought a new ice cream maker and it came with 2 bowls, so why not? After I came home, I immediately started mixing the avocado and blueberry cheesecake ice cream base. They are so simple and you don't need egg yolks at all!

Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
5 small or 3 medium ripe avocadoes
1 15-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Mashed the avocadoes and mix them with the other ingredients.
2. Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Put your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer for 24 hours as well.
3. Pour the mix into the ice cream maker and follow the machine's manufacturer's instructions.
4. Freeze the ice cream until firm or eat it right away as soft-serve.

*I used homemade chocolate ganache to make the chocolate ripple in the avocado ice cream. You can use store-bought ganache or make your own by mixing equal parts of hot heavy whipping cream and chopped chocolate. Swirl in the ganache before freezing the ice cream.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:
11 oz (1 8-oz + 1 3-oz packages) of cream cheese
1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cup half-and-half
1 pint blueberries, chopped
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Beat cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar until fluffy and lump-free.
2. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and half-and-half and mix thoroughly.
3. Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Put your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer for 24 hours as well.
4. Pour the mix into the ice cream machine and follow the machine's manufacturer's instructions.
5. Fold chopped blueberries and graham cracker crumbs into the churned ice cream before freezing.
6. Freeze the ice cream until firm or eat it right away as soft-serve.

(top: blueberry cheesecake ice cream, bottom: avocado chocolate ice cream)

Yum yum yummmm!!! It is a bowl full of rich, decadent, creamy,  yummy goodness :) For those of you who are still skeptical about the avocado ice cream, try it once and you'll know what you've been missing out all this time. Alrighty, happy summer and ice cream time ^o^v