Happy July folks and welcome to round SIX of National Ice Cream Month! Crazy to think I’ve been doing this for so long but it’s honestly my favorite part of the blog year. I hope you’re ready for some new favorites because I’m pretty excited about this year’s lineup.

Week one makes use of one of my favorite delicately sweet flavors: lavender. Since discovering lavender creme brûlée at a since-closed local restaurant, I’ve used it across many ice cream flavors. This year I was searching for something lighter and a bit more subtle, and the prevalence of lavender, honey, and goat cheese combinations inspired me to create my own version here.

Subtly flavored with lavender (although you can pump that up to your heart’s content) gives this ice cream a light and summery feel. Partially sweetened with honey, it has that somewhat caramel-like note I personally think blends beautiful. I added a small amount of goat cheese for a little tang, reminiscent of cheesecake without feeling heavy.

This ice cream is all that smooth and creamy goodness you’re craving with a light flavor that is fully capable on its own but I’m sure would also blend beautifully with your favorite blueberry dessert. I’ve yet to have both a blueberry pie and a batch of this ice cream ready at the same time, but one day I will test my hypothesis. If you get to it first, be sure to let me know your thoughts.

Round out your holiday weekend with a slightly less traditional dessert, and get ready for more ice creams and salads headed your way.

Lavender Honey Chèvre Ice Cream 

Makes ~6 cups

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
1-2 Tbsp culinary lavender¹

2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream (ish)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chèvre (goat cheese)

1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Gently crush the lavender buds with a spoon (or a mortar and pestle, if you’re fancier than I am).
2. In a small saucepan, heat milk on medium until it just starts to simmer, then remove from heat. Add lavender to the milk and allow it to steep for at least 30 minutes. Taste and when it starts to seem too strong, proceed to next step.
3. Pour milk through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup to remove the lavender buds, pressing gently on the buds to release the most flavorful milk.
4. Return to lavender milk to saucepan over medium heat and add enough heavy cream to bring the total to 3 cups.
5. Add honey, sugar, and chèvre and whisk until smooth. (You can steep in some extra lavender at this point if it tastes too subtle.)
6. Remove from the heat and whisk in egg and vanilla. Chill thoroughly, or overnight.
7. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s directions, then place in a cold freezer-safe bowl to freeze for an additional four hours, or overnight.
8. A sprinkling of lavender buds makes a beautiful topping.

Notes

¹ My lavender is losing its potency so I ended up at 5 tsp and should’ve used 6, but I would start with 4 tsp and see how you feel.