Print This Post
The noble cherimoya has been nicknamed “the ice cream fruit” for its creamy, sweet, custardy flesh that tastes just like delicious ice cream when it’s ripe.
I fell in love with it a few months ago, when introduced. And I wasn’t just temporarily infatuated; I fell hard. Now I watch for it in the market and at the farmers market, and it leaps into my basket.
March through June is the best time of the year for cherimoya, with the peak of the California season in April and May.
That means the time is right to show off my favorite new way to put this special fruit to work. Riffing on the ice cream moniker, I decided to just go ahead and make ice cream out of it. With its natural sweetness and texture, there is no need for any extra sugar, dairy or other additions. Just ripen, puree, freeze, whirl and go!
Put the paste on a plastic plate and freeze it.
In the parlance of today’s food landscape, that makes it vegan, raw, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and with no added sugar.
Swe-e-e-e-t!
Recipe: Cherimoya Ice Cream
Summary: Naturally sweet, creamy, custardy cherimoya makes a fantastic vegan, raw, dairy-free, gluten-free natural ice cream with no added sugar.
Ingredients
- 4-6 ripe cherimoya fruit
- Water
Instructions
- Scoop flesh from ripe cherimoya into the bowl of a food processor, discarding the peel and large seeds. Whirl into a paste. Scrape paste onto a plastic plate and place plate in freezer until cherimoya is frozen solid, at least 4-5 hours, or overnight.
- When ready to make ice cream, remove cherimoya from freezer, break it up into pieces by hand, and place frozen pieces in a food processor. Whirl into a thick paste, adding a tablespoon or more of water (a bit at a time), until it resembles ice cream. Do not over mix or it will melt and get slushy.
- Scoop into bowls and enjoy!
- Serves 4-6, depending on appetites.
Quick notes
For more info, here is what I wrote earlier about cherimoya.
Variations
Banana-Cherimoya Ice Cream: Freeze slices of overripe banana and add frozen banana to the frozen cherimoya while you are whirling it into ice cream. This is a fantastic combination of tropical flavors!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Diet type: Vegan
Diet tags: Gluten free, Raw
Number of servings (yield): 6
My rating
Samples of cherimoya were provided by Melissa’s Produce.
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
fantastic article. great you pointed out you dont need to add any dairy or sugar, as nature certainly has its very own natural ice cream in perfect balance as u proved above. i look forward to trying this one with the banana variation. freezing it also keeps it from spoiling as i have had many bad cherimoyas in past(it ferments). looks great and im sure the flavour will be same.
I love these things! I usually halve them, pick out the seeds and stick them in the freezer. Then I just grab a spoon and dig in, but then they’re so expensive and hard to get around here that I don’t share. Yours looks way more presentable. See you at camp 😀
Anna,
Great idea to just stick them in freezer (after seeding). Will have to try that, as well!
I love cherimoyas! What a great idea.
Brilliant. Cherimoya is so creamy. It’s perfect for ice cream. GREG
{ 2 trackbacks }