I should be excited. I love ice cream and nothing rocks my world more than a good vanilla ice cream. However, I’m currently having residential issues. More specifically, I’ve been out of my house for almost two months and temporarily living with the parentals until my divorce settlement/judgment is signed. As I write this my proposed settlement is on its way to my husband. I am hoping hoping hoping and wishing wishing wishing he will sign it which will allow me back in the house by my birthday in August.
What does this have to do with vanilla ice cream? This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Vanilla Ice Cream. And while I remembered to grab my ice cream maker on one of my excursions back to the house, I forgot to grab my vanilla beans. My gorgeous, plump, moist Tahitian Vanilla Beans I bought when I was in Taha’a last December. I’ve looked at other vanilla beans at the grocery stores, at the gourmet stores, at Surfas and they all look so scrawny and cost so much that I can’t bring myself to buy them. Although I know you can make a very tasty vanilla ice cream without a bean, I wanted to use one the first time I made this recipe.
my gorgeous vanilla beans
I decided to make Helado de Jamaica (Hibiscus Ice Cream) using the base recipe for the vanilla ice cream, but instead of infusing the cream with the seeds and pod of a vanilla bean using jamaica leaves instead. The most common use for jamaica is to make agua de jamaica, a sweetened tea. You often see it in Mexican restaurants next to carafes of horchata (a cinnamony rice and almond drink) and tamarindo (a tamarind drink).
You can find jamaica or hibiscus leaves at natural food stores or Mexican markets. On it’s own, it makes a very tart tea. As an ice cream, it has the tartness of a good frozen yogurt and the creaminess of real ice cream. I’m also digging the gorgeous color. I made it by adding 1/3 of a cup of hibiscus leaves to the heated cream/sugar mixture and let it infuse for 10 minutes. Next on the list: Helado de Tamarindo.
Thank you to Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu for hosting this week’s recipe as we bake/churn our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking…From My Home to Yours. If you would like the original vanilla recipe, buy the book or visit Lynne’s blog.
Love the colour of that ice cream. And the idea of tart and sweet – divine. Well done! Can’t wait to see what you do when you get your vanilla beans back.
This is such a lovely coloured icecream – I did not know that hibiscus leaves are drunk as tea, although I have had a glass of bubbly with a hibiscus flower in the bottom ;)
The color is fantastic. I am really interested in the flavor as well. Looks great!
Gorgeous colour! I would love to try cooking with hibiscus leaves one day, I have never seen them in Canada.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you that everything gets settled – asap.
And I’ve seen hibiscus tea around blogland lately, it just never occurred to me that you could make ice cream with it.
Oh, and I hope you post the avocado ice cream – I got a real kick out of your comment that it tasted like sweetened guacamole.
Gorgeous! I am so impressed by the ice cream creations that you come up with!
wow..pretty red ice cream. I used to really love this hibiscus drink from Starbucks.I ‘m sure I’m going to love this ice cream.
Wendy, that ice cream looks lovely. I had a hibiscus sorbet for dessert recently and I loved the flavor of it. I can only imagine how good the ice cream must taste! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for you, and you’re back in your house soon!
What a gorgeous color. Your ice cream looks beautiful.
I hope everything works out for you.
Gorgeous ice cream.
What a colour, this looks great.
I hope that after 26 years I don’t have to go through the same thing as you. I wish you luck!
Ulrike @ Küchenlatein
The color is so vibrant! Great choice. I hope things work out for you and you can be back in time for your b-day! Hugs!
so gorgeous! and creative!
oh, to be separated from those gorgeous vanilla beans:(
i hope that your settlement goes swiftly and smoothly. i’ll be thinking of you.
That looks awesome and delicious! Hope you get “settled” soon!
I LOVE Agua de Jamaica, though Tamarindo is my favorite, actually. I had been thinking of making a beer with hibiscus for the longest time, but never got around to it.
I will have to try this as soon as this miserable summer weather turns around. Thanks for making my day with this ice cream!
Hope everything works out for you as well.
Wow! Look at that color! This almost looks like a sorbet! Great job… and I hope everything works out for you :)
That looks fabulous! Beautiful color, I bet it tasted great!
Awesome color!! The first time I ever went to a taquieria I opted to have agua de jamaica rather than the horchata. I loved the flavor of it… sweet and floral and in a way it was almost smoky. I can imagine it made an interesting ice cream flavor!
You’ll always be my Ice Cream Diva.
The ice cream looks like TWD’s blueberry sorbet . . remember that? You are so creative! Love it.
I hope everything works out for you over there. Too much drama for the mama.
I knew you’d be stoked for this challenge! Bummer about the vanilla beans though.
You’re right the color of this one is gorgeous.
~ingrid
That icecream looks divine!! I bet it tasted fab!
MMMMMMMMMMMMM,…
My my my – your ice cream is gorgeous! That is an amazing color and texture you got out of it there!
I hope all goes well with the settlement proposal so that you can move on and move back in! Good luck!
The ice cream is so pretty. Your reflection in the scooper is great!
I hope life settles down for you and you can embark on the next chapter soon.
that is one beautiful color (i would have thought it was pomegranite sorbet if you hadn’t said)! hope everything is settled soon!
I love the color of this ice cream!! It’s beautiful! I hope you get back into your house soon…I can’t even imagine how unsettling that must feel. I love reading your blog and I wish you all good things!!!
Looks beautiful! What a fabulous color. I’ve always used hibiscus flowers to make a hot tea in the evening, but it may be time for me to branch out…
I adore the flavor of hibiscus especially in hot or iced tea. I’ll have to try it in ice cream!
tu as piqué ma curiosité avec l’hibiscus…il faut absolument que j’essaie. La couleur est magnifique :)
i’m in love with that vibrant color! good job there!
That is gorgeous!!! And I think that’s the most perfect scoop of ice cream I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen plenty of horchata, but not the agua de jamaica – I’ll have to ask next time.
I hope you’ll be settled and at home again soon!
The color is absolutely gorgeous! I hope all goes well for you.
for a minute there I thought you had made the blueberry ice cream again! Looks fabulous. and do I say congratulations on your divorce? ;0)
That is some really beautiful ice cream. Love the mini you in the scooper! Hope everything gets settled quickly and you are where you want to be ASAP.
that tea looks so refreshing to me right now… and i’ll wish you luck with all that personal stuff too.
Wow, lovely ice cream…such a nice and tempting color.
Love the color of your ice cream. I would have guessed black currant ice cream. I like hibiscus tea so I’m sure I’d like ice cream made with it too. Great job.
That ice cream looks wonderful..I love the dark purple color. I hope you get your vanilla beans bacl asap!
You know, its really appropriate that we would see “you” in the ice cream scoop. You are THE ice cream blog! Besides, yours is such a happy color and I imagine tastes divine! thanks for sharing your tips and info. I learned something new today. I did order some T-beans this week. Can’t wait to get them. I’ll bet the ones you buy next trip will be oh so special. I always buy vanilla at a special coffee/chocolate shop in Playa. That”s just me. Hoping great things for you in your new life and smooth sailing.
AmyRuth
Wow…what a beautiful color on your ice cream. This sounds fantastic! I can’t wait to see what you do with tamarind.
BTW, good luck with getting everything settled. I have a friend who just finalized her divorce last year, and once that was behind her, she was able to start anew.
Oh wow, what a gorgeous color that ice cream is. It sounds so good! I hope everything gets settled soon so you can get back in your house.
Like everyone else has mentioned- the color is beautiful! I love that this ice cream recipe can be a base for pretty much any flavor you can think of! I hope you’ll be back in your house soon- good luck!
hope the living situation works itself out so you can be back in your own kitchen soon. that said, yur baking/cooking seems to be full steam even away from your own space!
I love the color! I’ll be anxious to see how the tamarind turns out- I’m a big fan…
THAT looks incredible! What a fabulous color! I hope all goes well with your settlement. Crossing my fingers!
Wonderful color. It looks so good.
Hang in with the post divorce. Future gets brighter.
Aaah, poor chica! I hope your life straightens out and you find the silver lining amongst the clouds.
Love the ice cream… it just has that inviting “eat me!” look about it.
Oh, I hope things turn out for you – what a stressful situation to be in!
I’m intrigued by the hibiscus flavor though, and absolutely love the color – gorgeous!
I hope that you are happily reunited with your vanilla beans soon, and that you will report your findings on this vanilla ice cream; in the meanwhile the hibiscus variation is truly inspired – absolutely beautiful and I’ll bet delicious as well.
Talk about raising the bar! You forgot to grab the vanilla beans, so you improvised with hibiscus leaves? I’m speechless. And impressed. And I really wish I could have just one spoonful. :-)
How unique, the color is beautiful and I’m sure it was just as tasty. I’ll keep my fingers crossed things settle down for you soon.
I’ve never seen jamaica leaves before, but I’ll have to keep my eyes out for them. That ice cream looks divine! The color is absolutely stunning!
That is totally gorgeous! I love hibiscus tea, but never would have thought to flavor ice cream with it. I really enjoyed using a Tahitian vanilla bean for this week’s recipe. I hope you get yours back soon.
Wow- what gorgeous ice cream! I’ve had a tea made with hibiscus but will have to that- it looks so yummy!
Mmmm… that looks divine, the colour is sublime!
I am late in reading/commenting, so I hope by now things are a little closer to settled for you than they were a couple of weeks ago. Bummer that you didn’t have your vanilla beans for this, but talk about taking lemons and making lemonade! (um, hibiscus leaves and making hibiscus ice cream?) What a vibrant, gorgeous color!