recipe review: pomegranate dream

No-Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream

Review: Minimal ingredients and the taste is unique and divine. Whisking takes a LONG time. Beware of overwhisking and curdling. Danger of slightly icy ice cream is high, but worth it.

A small piece of my heart will always be back with Ann Arbor, where I spent 4 years for college. One of my best memories comes not from friendships, but from the most amazing smoothie I've ever had, at the vegan restaurant Seva. The smoothie was an odd concoction that was oh-so-good...milk, strawberries, yogurt, bananas, and lime juice...the yogurt and lime juice were perfect complements to the sweetness and gave the whole thing a tangy kick.

This recipe originated from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express, which has wonderful simple and yummy recipes, as well as Nigella's charm and dry wit. I wasn't about to squeeze fresh pomegranate juice, so I bought a bottle of pure juice from Whole Foods. Consequently, I did not have seeds with which to garnish the finished product as suggested, but c'est la vie. Plus, hub and I are fast eaters, and have little interest in garnishes.

Ingredients:

*2 pomegranates, or about 3/4 cup of pure pomegranate juice (with no sugar added)

*1 lime [I would really go with a fresh lime here, rather than the bottled juice]

*1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (ie: powdered sugar)

*2 cups heavy cream (= 1 pint)

Directions:

1) Juice the pomegranates and lime into a bowl (or juice the lime and measure out about 3/4 pomegranate juice into a large bowl).

2) Add the powdered sugar and whisk until dissolved.

3) Slowly add the heavy cream as you whisk. Keep whisking until soft peaks form in the pale pink cream.

[Here is where it gets complicated. What the original recipe fails to mention is how long and agonizing it is to whisk the cream mixture...it took us nearly 20-30 minutes of on-and-off whisking. The recipe specifically calls for heavy cream, but perhaps whipping cream might have made things easier? Our hand mixer just made the cream splatter, so stick with a manual whisk. Additionally, the critical point of the mixture seems very small...we overwhisked the first batch by maybe 10 seconds and the whole thing curdled! I think the way to avoid this is stop frequently when the mixture starts to get thicker. You're going for a consistency like beaten egg whites or homemade whipped cream. We were super cautious and underwhisked our second batch...probably why it is slightly icy.]

4) Spoon and smooth into an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

[Better to freeze overnight. We were woken up at 3am by Griff to potty...while hub was stumbling his way downstairs with the pup, I peeked at the ice cream we made at 10pm and it was still pretty jiggly and loose in the center.]

5) Optional: Scatter with pomegranate seeds to garnish and enjoy.

The last time I dined at Seva was just before graduation during my senior year of college. It had been a while because I had lived clear across campus for 2 years. Imagine my shock to learn that they had gotten rid of the smoothie menu. For shame! Thankfully, I now have this recipe to bring back that light, creamy, fruity yet tangy taste I loved so much.