The mellow, creamy base plays very nicely with the intense sweet-tart strawberry hibiscus swirl, and the nuts add a textural contrast as well as a bit of sweet earthiness. Of course, as with all the Tuesdays, you can leave out the swirl, the mix-in, or both and just make the base, swirling in whatever you want! You will end up with about 2 quarts of ice cream.
1.5Tablespoons4 1/2 teaspoons lime juice, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1teaspoonvanilla
⅜teaspoonkosher salt
For the Strawberry Hibiscus Swirl
½pintstrawberries, hulled and halved (a generous one cup)
6hibiscus flowers in rose syrup plus 2 Tablespoons of the syrup(optional)
pinchof salt
2teaspoonsfreshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
1Tablespoonvegan sugar(or more, to taste, if you leave out the hibiscus flowers)
2teaspoonsvodka
For the Pistachios
4ozroasted pistachios(I used salted), shelled and rubbed to get off most of the papery skins (once shelled, about 1/2 cup)
2Tablespoonshisbiscus rose syrup(or 1 Tablespoon water and 2 Tablespoons sugar)
Instructions
For the Base
Heat the coconut milk over medium heat until very warm. This will melt any fatty globs that could feel grainy in the finished ice cream.
Place the avocados in your blender and puree until smooth.
With the blender still on slowly pour in the warm coconut milk, blending all the while.
Add the sugar, acid (lemon or lime juice or ACV), vanilla and salt and blend again.
Taste and adjust as necessary. If you want a bit more sharpness, add a bit more acid. If you want it sweeter, add another tablespoon or two of sugar.
Strain into a metal bowl and chill until 40F or colder.
Churn in your ice cream maker (2 quart capacity or churn in batches) according to manufacturer's instructions.
Add the chopped nuts during the last 2-3 minutes of churning.
For the Strawberry-Hibiscus Swirl
Cook all the ingredients together over medium heat until it comes to a full boil.
Mash the berries and flowers with a potato masher or the back of a fork and let bubble away over low heat until very thick and jammy.
Taste and add a touch more sugar if you think it needs it.
Puree (you can also leave it "chunky" if you want. It's up to you) and stir in the vodka.
Chill until cold (under 40F).
For the Nuts
Put the nuts and syrup (or water and sugar) in a heavy skillet.
Heat over medium heat until the syrup boils.
Turn the heat down to medium low and stir constantly until the syrup is very thick and sticky and starting to caramelize.
Spread nuts out on Silpat to cool. They will most likely remain a little bit sticky, and that's okay. Chop coarsely and put in the freezer.
Putting it all together.
Spoon about 1/3 of the strawberry hibiscus puree in the bottom of your container, spreading it out evenly.
Spoon on 1/3 of the ice cream, covering the puree completely.
Layer in the rest of the puree and ice cream in 2 more additions each.
Take a knife and swirl through the container, reaching all the way to the bottom, moving it up and down to swirl the layers together just a bit. Don't be too overzealous or you will end up with gray ice cream. That's no good for anyone.
Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and freeze for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight to ripen.
Let temper on the counter for about 5 minutes before scooping and serving.
Enjoy.
Notes
If you want vanilla ice cream, increase the vanilla to 1 Tablespoon and leave out the mixins. There are many ways to vary this to suit your tastes.