Home-made Rose Ice Cream
I first came across Rose Ice Cream about ten years ago on a family holiday to Alnwick Castle Garden in Northumberland. The castle is famous for its wonderful, dramatic modern garden which includes a large area devoted to scented roses. When we visited, they were selling rose-flavoured ice-cream with a flavour based on the old-fashioned roses in the garden. I loved the ice-cream and, as soon as I got home, set about trying to make a home-made version. If you love gardens, I would recommend a visit to those at Alnwick Castle which also include a cascade of 120 water-jets, an area devoted to poisonous plants and an extraordinary tree-house which is the location for a very fancy restaurant.
Maybe because I first had Rose Ice Cream in Alnwick, I associate it with an English summer garden. There are a few recipes for Rose Ice Cream which have a more exotic twist, including pistachios or almonds, and having a 1001 Nights vibe, but this is definitely a traditional English version.
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. If you are in a rose-loving mood, you could make Rose Meringues!
Edible flower recipes – rose, lavender and elderflower
As is probably obvious from the title of this blog, I love using floral flavourings in my cooking. For rose-lovers, there are some great easy baking recipes including Rose and Strawberry Cream Cake and Almond Shortbread with Rosewater. For dessert, you could try Rose and Raspberry Pavlova or Rose Meringues. I also have a fantastic easy recipe for delicious floral Rose Petal Jam and an easy-peasy recipe for Crystallised Rose Petals.
Lavender-lovers might like the recipes for Lavender Ice Cream, Lavender Cake and Lavender Shortbread and Honey Cream Tea with Lavender Scones.
For elderflower-lovers, there are recipes for Elderflower Ice Cream, Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet and Elderflower and Lemon Cupcakes. I also have a recipe for a classic Elderflower Cordial and also really easy recipes for Elderflower Gin and a lovely floral-flavoured Elderflower Vinegar.
Easy homemade Rose Ice Cream recipe
PrintRose Ice Cream
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
- Category: Ice Cream
- Cuisine: English
Description
This Rose Ice Cream is a lovely summer recipe which combines the floral taste of rose with fresh cream.
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 85 g caster sugar
- 425 ml double cream
- 1 tablespoon of culinary rosewater
- A few drops of red food colouring (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks paler and resembles a mousse.
- 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!
- Pour the cream into the bowl containing the egg yolks and sugar, whisking all the time.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remove the thick custard from the heat and transfer into a bowl.
- Add the rosewater to the custard. If you wish, stir in a few drops of red food colouring so that your ice cream will be pink. If you don’t do this, your ice-cream will be cream-coloured but will still taste the same!
- Allow to cool to room temperature and then transfer to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled.
- 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
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.
If you want to go for a full-on rose theme, you can decorate your ice-cream with Crystallised Rose Petals.
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.
- Blackberry and Bay Ice Cream – foraged blackberries with an underlying note of warm, spicy bay
- Roasted Cherry Ice Cream – juicy fresh cherries with a bit of booze make this a rich and indulgent dessert (you can leave out the alcohol if you really want to)
- Coffee Ice Cream – quick and easy, store-cupboard recipe using instant coffee which has an amazingly rich coffee flavour
- Cranberry Ice Cream – if you have any left-over cranberry sauce, you know what to do with it
- Elderflower Ice-cream – easy recipe using elderflower cordial – delicious floral taste of summer!
- Lavender Ice-cream – another gorgeous floral ice cream (bit of a theme here at tastebotanical…) made with fresh or dried culinary lavender
- Lemon Curd Ice Cream – this tangy, three-ingredient recipe is probably the simplest ice cream recipe you will find
- Apple Ice Cream with Salted Caramel is a brilliant dessert with autumnal flavours
- Strawberry Balsamic Ice-cream – strawberry ice cream given a lift with a dash of balsamic vinegar to bring out the sweetness
- Thyme ice-cream with honey and mascarpone – thyme, honey and mascarpone…. in an ice cream – what’s not to like?