Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

Easy Lemon Verbena Ice Cream recipe

My Lemon Verbena Ice Cream is a great way of showcasing the unique taste of this herb.  In addition to the taste of lemon, it also has additional subtle notes of ginger which make it an excellent flavouring for ice cream.     As lemon verbena may be hard to source, I have also included the option in the recipe of using grated lemon zest as an alternative flavouring.  This will make an excellent ice-cream but the taste will be different.

About Lemon Verbena

Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora) is a small shrub, native to western South America.  It was was brought to Europe by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 17th century.  Its leaves have a strong lemon scent with other flavour notes, in particular ginger.  They can be used to produce flavoured oil and  herbal tea.  Lemon verbena can be used to bring a lemon flavour to savoury meat and fish dishes and marinades.  It can also be used in sweet dishes such as puddings, cakes, sorbets and, of course, Lemon Verbena Ice Cream.

Grow your own herbs

Adding fresh herbs to a dish is such a  quick and  easy way of transforming it into something special.  Once you get to know the different flavours, there is endless potential for experimentation.   You will get to know which herbs you prefer, which go well with each other and which ones enhance particular dishes.

I am a great advocate for growing your own herbs.     They take up little space and can be grown in pots on a window ledge or balcony if you do not have a garden.  Most of them are also very easy to grow.   If you grow your own, you will have access to a much wider range of flavours as, unfortunately, it is hard to find more unusual herbs in the supermarkets.

If you want to grow your own herbs, including lemon verbena, there are a number of specialist herb nurseries, which will provide herbs by mail order, including  Herbal Haven where I bought a number of my more unusual herbs.

Other home-made ice cream recipes

I am a great home-made ice cream enthusiast. I make it in the summer, of course, but am happy to eat it in winter too! There are some brilliant, shop-bought ice creams available but it is so easy to make your own. I like to experiment with flavours and some of my other ice cream recipes are listed below.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Other lemon flavoured recipes

I love the taste of lemon in both sweet and savoury recipes and, in addition to lemon verbena, I also use fresh lemons a lot. One of my favourite preserve recipes is my easy Lemon Curd. It brings a hit of zesty fresh lemon to lots of other dishes such as my Lemon Curd Ice Cream or my Lemon Pavlova.

Lemon is a great baking ingredient and I use it in lots of my cake and biscuit (cookie) recipes. My Lemon Biscuits (Cookies) are quick, easy and delicious. I combine lemon with elderflower in my Lemon Sponge Cake with Edible Flowers and in my Elderflower and Lemon cupcakes. My St Clement’s Cake has a double hit of citrus as it includes both oranges and lemons!

In savoury dishes, lemon is a great flavour partner to chicken. I make a classic Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Thyme and also a Morroccan-inspired stew of Lemon Chicken with Olives.

Easy Lemon Verbena Ice Cream recipe

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Lemon verbena ice cream, lemon verbena ice-cream

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Ice-cream
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This ice cream showcases the subtle herbal flavour of lemon verbena which has additional notes of ginger in addition to lemon.   As it may be hard to source lemon verbena, I have included an alternative using lemon zest.  This is a good, but different, ice-cream.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 85 g caster sugar
  • 425 ml double cream
  • 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves (or the grated zest of one unwaxed lemon)

Instructions

  1. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks paler and resembles a mousse.
  2. Put the cream and chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves (or grated lemon zest) in a saucepan and heat gently. Do not allow to boil – it will be the right temperature when you are just about able to bear to dip a finger in it!
  3. Remove the saucepan containing the cream and lemon verbena (or grated lemon zest) from the heat.  At this stage you can strain the cream to remove all the pieces of lemon verbena leaf (or grated lemon zest).  I generally don’t strain the chopped herbs out as I like them distributed through the ice-cream but I know some people prefer a totally smooth ice-cream with just the flavour.  If you are going to leave the pieces in the ice-cream, you need to make sure that the leaves are very finely chopped – no one wants huge fragments of leaf in their pudding!
  4. Pour the infused cream into the bowl containing the egg yolks and sugar, whisking all the time.
  5. Transfer the combined mixture into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or, ideally a double-boiler, as you need to reheat it very gently.
  6. The mixture will gradually thicken until it looks like a custard (which is what it is).  Stir regularly to make sure it does not stick while it is thickening.
  7. Remove the thick custard from the heat and transfer into a bowl.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then transfer to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled.
  8. When you are ready to make the ice cream, transfer to your ice cream maker and use according to your machine’s instructions.  If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can place the mixture in a freezer-proof container, put in the freezer for several hours until half-frozen.  Whisk the mixture and then return to the container and replace in the freezer until totally frozen.

Notes

Although the preparation time and cook time totals 20 minutes you will need to allow additional time for the ice cream mixture to become completely cold before you freeze it.

You can make this ice cream either using lemon verbena or the zest of a lemon.  Both will taste lemony (and very good!) but the taste will be different – a subtle soft herbal lemon flavour with hints of ginger – if you are using lemon verbena.  If you can get hold of it, it is really worth a try!

Keywords: lemon, lemon verbena, ice cream, lemon verbena ice cream, lemon verbena ice-cream

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Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

Elderflower Sorbet

Elderflower and Gooseberry Sorbet

Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

This Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet uses my home-made Muscat Syrup as a base.   I make the Muscat Syrup to accompany desserts, such as  Elderflower Pannacotta,  but often have some left over.

On the basis of “waste not, want not”, I thought I would try making the left over Muscat Syrup into a sorbet and the result was fantastic – a balance of tart and sweet with a lovely gooseberry flavour  enhanced by the fragrance of elderflowers.   Now I will sometimes make the syrup specifically to create the sorbet!

In order to make the Muscat Syrup into a sorbet, you need to dilute it with some water and add some lemon juice, otherwise it will be too sweet.   That is all you need to do to make the syrup into a sorbet – except freezing it, of course.

Latest posts from tastebotanical

Elderflower and Gooseberry Sorbet
Gooseberries
Other Elderflower Recipes

I am a big fan of elderflower and love its distinctive floral flavour. I have lots of recipes, some using fresh elderflowers and some which can be made with shop-bought elderflower cordial.

  • Elderflower Cordial – classic floral cordial that can be used to make summer drinks and to flavour baked goods and desserts
  • Elderflower Vinegar – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and brings a brilliant floral taste to summer salad dressings.
  • Home-made Elderflower Gin – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and great drunk on its own or as the basis for floral cocktails.
  • Elderflower Cupcakes – quick and easy and can be made using shop-bought cordial.
  • Simple Elderflower Ice Cream – delicious floral ice cream which can be made using shop-bought elderflower cordial.
  • Elderflower Pannacotta – light and creamy summer dessert

Recipe for Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

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Gooseberry Sorbet

Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Ice-cream
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This cooling Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet is sweet and refreshing on a hot summer’s day.


Ingredients

Scale

Ingredients:  For the Muscat Syrup

  • 250 g  (8 oz) green gooseberries
  • 250 g (8 oz)  caster sugar
  • 4 tbs water
  • 4 elderflower blooms

Ingredients:  To make the Muscat Syrup into  Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

  • For 600 ml  (1 pint) of Syrup, an additional 200 ml (35 fl oz) of water (that is, add one third quantity of water to syrup)
  • Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

Method – Muscat Syrup

  1. Put the gooseberries in a saucepan – there is no need to “top and tail” them.  Add the sugar and water and cook over a low heat until the gooseberries are soft.
  2. Take the pan off the heat and add the elderflower blooms.
  3. Allow the syrup to cool.  The flavour of the elderflower blooms will diffuse into the syrup.
  4. When cool, strain the syrup through a sieve into a jug or bowl.

Method – To make the Muscat Syrup into Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

  1. Dilute the syrup with water – one third water to two thirds syrup.
  2. Add juice of half a lemon.
  3. Transfer the sorbet mixture to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled.
  4. When you are ready to make the sorbet, transfer to your ice-cream maker and use according to your machine’s instructions.  If you do not have an ice-cream maker, you can place the mixture in a freezer-proof container, put in the freezer for several hours until half-frozen.  Whisk the mixture and then return to the container and replace in the freezer until totally frozen.

Keywords: gooseberry and elderflower sorbet, gooseberry, elderflower, sorbet

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Elderflower Ice-cream

Easy homemade Elderflower Ice Cream recipe

I make Elderflower Ice Cream using my standard ice cream recipe.  I use this to make many different flavours of ice cream but  Elderflower Ice Cream is one of my favourites.  It has a wonderful floral creaminess which is perfect eaten in the garden on a sunny English summer day. I think my Lemon Biscuits go very well with my Elderflower Ice-cream but you could serve it with fresh berries – or just on its own!

To make my Elderflower Ice-cream, I use Elderflower Cordial to add the flavour, rather than fresh elderflowers, which means that you can make this recipe at any time of the year.  However, for me, this is an early summer recipe.  I make my own home-made Elderflower Cordial and you can find the link to the recipe here.   However, there are lots of great ready-made versions available  in supermarkets now.

You only need the egg yolks for this recipe which means you will have spare egg whites.  As I hate waste, I pretty much always make Meringues when I make ice-cream as, very conveniently, my Meringue recipe requires four egg whites.

Other Elderflower Recipes

I am a big fan of elderflower and love its distinctive floral flavour. I have lots of recipes, some using fresh elderflowers and some which can be made with shop-bought elderflower cordial.

  • Fresh Elderflower Cordial – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and can be diluted as a drink and also used as a flavouring in other recipes.
  • Home-made Elderflower Gin – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and great drunk on its own or as the basis for floral cocktails.
  • Elderflower Cupcakes – quick and easy and can be made using shop-bought cordial.
  • Easy Elderflower Vinegar – floral flavoured vinegar which is brilliant in summer salad dressings or drizzled over fresh strawberries.
  • Elderflower and Gooseberry Sorbet – a refreshing floral sorbet that celebrates the brilliant flavour match of elderflower and gooseberry.
  • Elderflower Pannacotta – light and creamy summer dessert.
Other home-made ice cream recipes

I am a great home-made ice cream enthusiast. I make it in the summer, of course, but am happy to eat it in winter too! There are some brilliant, shop-bought ice creams available but it is so easy to make your own. I like to experiment with flavours and some of my other ice cream recipes are listed below.

Easy homemade Elderflower Ice Cream recipe

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Elderflower Ice-cream

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 5
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
  • Category: Ice Cream
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This quick and easy homemade Elderflower Ice Cream recipe is the perfect summer dessert.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 85 g (3 oz) caster sugar
  • 425 ml (15 fl oz) double cream
  • 4 tablespoons Elderflower Cordial

Instructions

  1. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks paler and resembles a mousse.
  2. Put the cream in a saucepan and heat gently. Do not allow to boil – it will be the right temperature when you are just about able to bear to dip a finger in it!
  3. Add the Elderflower Cordial to the cream.
  4. Pour the cream into the bowl containing the egg yolks and sugar, whisking all the time.
  5. Transfer the combined mixture into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or, ideally a double-boiler, as you need to reheat it very gently.
  6. The mixture will gradually thicken until it looks like a custard (which is what it is).  Stir regularly to make sure it does not stick while it is thickening.
  7. Remove the thick custard from the heat and transfer into a bowl.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then transfer to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled.
  8. When you are ready to make the ice-cream, transfer to your ice-cream maker and use according to your machine’s instructions.  If you do not have an ice-cream maker, you can place the mixture in a freezer-proof container, put in the freezer for several hours until half-frozen.  Whisk the mixture and then return to the container and replace in the freezer until totally frozen.

Keywords: elderflower, ice cream

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Mango and Lime Ice-cream

Mango
Mango and lime ice-cream

Mango and Lime Ice-cream

What can you do if you have three over-ripe mangoes?  Make ice-cream, of course!   This recipe for Mango and Lime Ice-cream is based on one included in Delia Smith’s Winter Collection – a cookery book I go back to year after year – but I include the lime zest as well as the lime juice as I like a stronger lime flavour.  Also, I generally make it with cream rather than crème fraiche as I am more likely to have this in the house.  Luckily for me, this ice-cream is better if your mangoes are very ripe as this gives it a stronger flavour.

This is a lovely ice-cream – exotic mango and zesty lime –  and very easy to make.  It makes a great dessert following a spicy meal (thai green curry anyone?) but is also very nice eaten straight from the tub in the garden on a hot summer’s day (don’t ask me how I know this!)

Equipment

Liquidiser, mixing bowl, freezer proof dish, Ice Cream Maker  (although you can make it without this – see below)

Mango
Mix the puree and the cream

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Mango

Mango and Lime Ice-cream

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Ice-cream
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This ice-cream combines the fruity deliciousness of mango with a zing of fresh lime.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 120 g caster sugar
  • 3 large, very ripe, mangoes
  • 4 limes
  • 200 ml double cream

Instructions

  1. Put the sugar into a small saucepan together with 150 ml of water. Heat slowly until the sugar is dissolved. Then simmer uncovered for around 15 minutes until the mixture has reduced and looks thick and syrupy.   Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
  2. Peel your mangoes, remove the flesh, put it into your liquidiser and blend into a smooth puree.
  3. Put the mango puree into a bowl and add the cooled sugar syrup and the juice and grated zest of the limes.
  4. In a separate bowl (or food processor) whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
  5. Fold the mango mixture into the whipped cream.
  6. Put the combined mixture into the fridge and allow to get completely cold.
  7. If you have an ice-cream maker, put the mixture into it and process according to instructions.  Once the ice-cream has thickened, transfer it to a freezer-proof container and keep in your freezer until you wish to eat it.
  8. If you do not have an ice-cream maker, you can transfer the mixture straight into the freezer-proof container, freeze for one hour, then stir and return to the freezer.

Keywords: mango and lime ice-cream, mango ice-cream

Mango
Ready to serve!

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Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream

Rhubarb, Rose and Cream

 

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream

This Rhubarb Ice Cream is made from rhubarb curd flavoured with rosewater. It is a really quick and easy ice-cream which manages to taste both familiar and exotic and its soft pink colour looks wonderful!    Rhubarb and rose go very well together and each enhances the flavour of the other.  The sharpness of the rhubarb, the sweet floweriness of the rose plus soft billowing cream is a winning combination.    Don’t overdo the rose flavouring as you want it to balance and not over-power the taste of the rhubarb.  The ice-cream should make you think of an English summer garden – with a whisper of rose-water giving a hint of exotic Arabian Nights rather than a full-on Fry’s Turkish Delight flashback!

What you need to know about this recipe

  • You can make this recipe with home-made Rhubarb Curd or with the shop-bought variety. If you have never made Rhubarb Curd, it is very easy and a lot cheaper than buying ready-made!
  • Although you can make this recipe without an ice cream maker, it is a lot easier if you have one. You can buy a basic ice cream maker fairly cheaply.
  • It is best to start this recipe the day before you eat it. This will mean that once you have made the basic custard, it will have time to chill down before you put it in the ice cream maker the next day.
  • You can also make this ice cream well in advance if that is more convenient. I generally make double the quantity and keep it in the freezer where it will last for up to three months.
  • As with most home-made ice creams, it helps to remove the container from the freezer about ten minutes before serving as this will make it easier to scoop.

Other home-made ice cream recipes

I am a great home-made ice cream enthusiast. I make it in the summer, of course, but am happy to eat it in winter too! There are some brilliant, shop-bought ice creams available but it is so easy to make your own. I like to experiment with flavours and some of my other ice cream recipes are listed below.

Other rhubarb recipes

I love rhubarb and have lots of other rhubarb recipes. It makes a great jamcompote or fruit curd. It is also great in a crumble. Rhubarb is also good in many home-baking recipes such as Rhubarb Upside-down Cake, Rhubarb Crumble CakeRhubarb Bread and Butter PuddingRhubarb Victoria Sandwich Cake and Rhubarb Roulade. It also makes a good basis for cold desserts such as Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream or Rhubarb Fool. You can also use it to make Rhubarb Cordial and a pretty good Rhubarb Gin liqueur!

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream recipe

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Rhubarb, rose, cream

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Ice-cream
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This is a lovely ice-cream to make in early summer which combines the flavours of rhubarb and rose.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 600 g (1.5 lbs) Rhubarb Curd – you can either make your own (See my recipe for homemade Rhubarb Curd) or you can buy it in good supermarkets or food stores
  • 300 ml (Half a pint) double cream
  • A teaspoon of rosewater
  • A few drops of pink food colouring (optional)

Instructions

  1. Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks.
  2. Stir in the Rhubarb Curd.
  3. Add a teaspoon of rose-water.
  4. Add a few drops of pink food colouring if you feel the mixture needs to be pinker!  This won’t be necessary if you have already added colouring to home-made  Curd.
  5. Put the ice-cream mixture in your ice-cream maker, process until thickened and transfer to a freezer-proof container and store in your freezer until required.  Alternatively, as outlined above, you can put the ice-cream mixture straight into the freezer if you don’t have an ice-cream maker.

Keywords: rhubarb ice-cream, rhubarb and rose ice-cream