Strawberry and Honey Roasted Almond Gelato

2 lbs strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs rum (optional- as this gelato is mostly fruit, a little alcohol helps the scoopability)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2oz  slivered almonds

approx 1 1/2 tbs honey

Clean, de-stem and slice the strawberries. Set them in a mixing bowl and cover them with the sugar. Cover the bowl and leave in the refrigerator over night or until the sugar has dissolved and has started to pull the juices out of the strawberries.

In a small frying pan, toast the almonds over medium-high heat. Once the almonds start to brown, drizzle them with enough honey to coat the nuts. When everything looks nice and golden brown, pour the nuts out onto a sheet of aluminum foil and let them cool.

Transfer the strawberries into a blender and add the lemon juice, rum, vanilla and cream. Once everything is blended thoroughly, pass the mixture through a strainer to get out most of the pesky seeds. Freeze the strained mixture in your ice cream machine.

While the gelato is freezing, transfer the cooled nuts to a plastic bag. Whack the heck out of them with the back of a knife handle to make mixable pieces.

Mix the nuts and freshly creamed gelato together in a bowl (NOT in your ice cream machine.) Transfer to your freezer to let the mix set up. As this mix is mostly fruit, you’ll need to let it stand 5-10 minutes out of the freezer before trying to scoop it.

I think this gelato makes a perfectly acceptable breakfast ice cream. It doesn’t have a lot of sugar and it’s got a nice kick of protein from the almonds. It’s also a good way to use those 2 for $3 bushels of strawberries that you know are going to go bad almost as soon as you get them home, but they’re too good a price to pass up.

Thai Apricot Ginger Ice Cream

4 apricots so ripe you fear they may squish if you look at them wrong (but that obviously haven’t gone bad)

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 tbsp ground ginger (preferably from a local spice shop that grinds spices in house like The Savory Spice Shop here in Denver)

2 tbsp crystallized ginger cut into bitty pieces

Slice and pit the apricots. You can leave the skin on. Cook the apricots over medium heat until they are mushy all the way through. Add the sugar and cook until it’s all melty and gooey. Add the coconut milk and ground ginger. Stir until it’s all well incorporated. Pour the mixture into a glass blender or other heat safe container and refrigerate until cool. Once cool, blend the mixture smooth. Never blend anything while it is hot. Churn the mix in your ice cream maker. Once frozen, stir in the crystallized ginger bits. Makes a little less than one quart.

This is one of my favorite homemade ice creams ever, and definitely my favorite non-dairy recipe that I’ve tried so far. Coconut milk is so creamy and fatty that you’d never know from the texture that it wasn’t dairy based. I like it a little spicy, so you may find you like a little less ginger or a little more sugar if you like your ice creams sweeter.

The crystallized ginger cut into teeny bits can be hard to mix into the ice cream because it wants to stick to itself. A little sugar will help, but I’m careful not to add more sugar than is necessary, so I’ve found that putting them in the freezer while I’m churning the ice cream works just as well.

Pirate Breakfast Ice Cream

4 bananas

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tbsp rum

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

Blend all the ingredients, and then churn in your home ice cream freezer. Makes about a quart.

I’m calling these banana-based ice creams breakfast ice creams. Who doesn’t like ice cream for breakfast? And as Bill Cosby taught us, many nutritious items can be found in dessert. Really, are any cereals featuring cartoon characters or Halloween monsters any worse for you? I’m looking at you Frankenberry. At least this has seen a fruit. Add some walnuts or pistachios for protein and you have something like a healthy breakfast.

You can remove the rum for the kids, but not only will it lessen the piratical nature of the ice cream, but the alcohol also helps keep it scoopable. I wouldn’t add any more, however, if you want it to freeze right. If you want to really Jimmy Buffet it up, scoop some into a glass and pour the rum right over the top.