Apricot Ice Cream

The extra, beautifully ripe apricots were languishing in the refrigerator, so I needed to use them up. I made a small batch of ice cream using David Lebovitz's recipe from his book, The Perfect Scoop. I've mentioned his cookbook before - click here for my previous post about his Roasted Banana Ice Cream. I'm fortunate to have a wonderful ice cream machine that doesn't require you to freeze the bowl first - it's a commercial style machine made by Cuisinart - but manufactured for the home kitchen. I've been in love with this machine since Dave bought it for me about 3 years ago.

I read several other recipes before I decided which to use. But, everything I've had and heard about Levobitz's recipes led me to believe that his would be especially good. First you poach the apricots in a little water, add sugar, puree them in a blender, and add heavy cream, a hint of almond extract and another hint of lemon juice. I don't think I've ever made a recipe that called for 3 drops of any kind of extract - food coloring yes, extract, no. Hence the almond flavor mostly disappears in the mixture. The same with the lemon juice. It calls for a few drops of lemon juice, but my recipe program doesn't allow for "a few" as a measurement, so I changed it to 1/2 teaspoon, although I added more than that since I just squeezed a bit - probably more like 2 teaspoons at least. Then I poured it into the machine and 50 minutes later it was done. I didn't even chill the mixture first as it says in the recipe. So, how is it? Sinfully delicious. The intense apricot flavor slides right on through in your mouth. We haven't technically eaten it yet, although I licked the beater just to make sure it was okay (grin).

Apricot Ice Cream
Recipe By :The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Servings: 5

1 pound apricots -- fresh, very ripe
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3 drops almond extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1. Slice open the apricots, remove pits and any brown spots or stems, then cut each apricot into sixths. Cook the apricot pieces in water in a covered, medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until tender, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Once cool, puree the apricots and liquid in a blender of food processor until smooth. Taste a big spoonful; if there are any small fibers, press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove them. Stir in the cream, almond extract and lemon juice.
3. Chill mixture thoroughly in refrigerator, then freeze per manufacturer's directions.
Per Serving: 282 Calories; 18g Fat (55.1% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 65mg Cholesterol; 19mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on the title at the top.