Rose Petal Ice Cream Recipe | Cook the Book

By
Caroline Russock
Caroline Russock is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Caroline Russock is a writer who splits her time between Philadelphia and the Caribbean covering food, travel, leisure, lifestyle, and culture.  Her writing is featured in PhillyVoice, Eater, Eater Philly, Serious Eats, and The Tasting Table. 
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Updated April 15, 2020
20110810-165539-rose-petal-ice-cream.jpg
Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin

There's something inherently romantic about this Rose Petal Ice Cream. Bringing together two classic expressions of love—red roses and shared sweets—a dish of Rose Petal Ice Cream (with two spoons, of course) is about as romantic as dessert gets.

Adapted from Silvena Rowe's Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume, this exotic ice cream flavor takes the perfume of the rose petal and blends it into a sweet, custardy ice cream, making for an swoon-worthy ice cream that tastes as beautiful as roses smell.

The only caveat here is making sure that your roses are unsprayed. The ones available at most markets and florists are sprayed with all sorts of nasty who-knows-what and are not exactly ice cream material. Your best bet is to go with roses from the farmers' market or, even better, from your backyard. And feel free to experiment with all sorts of roses—each species will make for an ice cream with a uniquely lovely perfume and color.

Reprinted with permission from Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume by Silvena Rowe, copyright © 2011. Published by Ecco.

Recipe Details

Rose Petal Ice Cream Recipe | Cook the Book

Active 20 mins
Total 6 hrs
Serves 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups superfine sugar

  • Petals of 6 large unsprayed red roses, rinsed

  • 1 cup heavy cream

  • 1 cup milk

  • 5 large egg yolks

Directions

  1. Place the sugar and the petals of 5 roses in a food processor and pulse to make a purée. Pour the heavy cream and milk into a saucepan and add the rose petal mixture. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat.

  2. Whisk the egg yolks and slowly beat in the hot cream mixture. Return to the saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain through a fine wire sieve into a bowl and let cool. Finely chop the petals of the remaining rose and add to the custard.

  3. Using an ice cream machine, churn the ice cream as per your machine’s instructions. Transfer to a covered plastic container and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 2 hours. Scoop into bowls and serve.

Special Equipment

Ice cream machine

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
289Calories
15gFat
34gCarbs
6gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories289
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g19%
Saturated Fat 8g42%
Cholesterol 175mg58%
Sodium 68mg3%
Total Carbohydrate 34g12%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 34g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 0mg2%
Calcium 79mg6%
Iron 1mg4%
Potassium 121mg3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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