Apricot-Pine Nut Ice Cream (vegan)
Pine nuts have a strong flavor. If you don’t like them, this is not the recipe for you. But if you like them, you will love Apricot-Pine Nut Ice Cream. It’s made with a base of toasted pine nuts and apricot preserves, plus some milk of your choice to thin it out. Supporting players include olive oil (just a little for richness and complexity), vanilla (goes beautifully with apricots), a pinch of salt, and xanthan gum if you’re into it.
The whole thing is vegan and comes together in a food processor. Blend, chill, churn!
A few tips and tricks:
- Don’t skip toasting the pine nuts. — Well, you can if you want. But toasting makes them blend more quickly and smoothly, plus it adds wonderful flavor.
- Isn’t that a lot of apricot preserves? — It may seem that way, but not really. Remember that this is our sugar plus our flavoring. I use preserves that list apricots as the first ingredient, which ensures good flavor and avoids excessive sugar.
- You’ll need a food processor or high-powered blender to get the pine nuts blended smoothly.
If Apricot-Pine Nut Ice Cream sounds good, you might also like:
- Peach Pie Ice Cream (dairy free)
- Lazy “Cherry Garcia” Ice Cream (lactose free)
- Fig and Anise Ice Cream (lactose free)
- Pomegranate Ice Cream (dairy free)
- Ginger, Lemon, and Tahini Ice Cream (vegan)
Apricot-Pine Nut Ice Cream (vegan)
Makes a little less than 1 quart
Ingredients
Instructions
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TOAST THE PINE NUTS
I do this in my air fryer at 350 degrees for 4 minutes. You could also use a toaster oven, a dry skillet, or a microwave.
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BLEND THE PINE NUTS
Add the toasted pine nuts and the salt to a food processor (or high-powered blender). Blend until they are smooth. This should take 1-2 minutes. The pine nuts will become almost a flowing liquid.
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ADD FLAVORINGS
Add the apricot preserves, olive oil, vanilla, and xanthan gum (if using). Blend again until smooth.
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ADD YOUR CHOICE OF MILK
Begin adding your choice of milk to the food processor or blender. My food processor can't handle the full amount of liquid, so I blend some of my milk into the pine nut/apricot mixture, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the remaining milk.
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CHILL
Transfer to a container and chill in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
For a quicker chilling time, place the bowl containing your mixture in an ice bath (a larger bowl containing ice water) for a few hours. Stir the mixture occasionally. As the water in the ice bath warms up, pour off some water and add ice to keep the mixture chilling as quickly as possible.
Ideally, the mixture will be about 40 degrees when you churn it.
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CHURN
Before you start churning, set up everything you'll need to quickly transfer the ice cream from the machine into a container for freezing. I use a knife to scrape down the dasher (or paddle) and a wooden spoon to scoop out the ice cream.
Set up your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Pour your mixture into the ice cream maker and churn. Because this mixture is thick, it churns more quickly than most. In my machine the perfect churning time is 18 minutes, but your experience may vary.
The ice cream is ready when it has the consistency of soft serve and has started pulling away from the edge of the canister.
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STORE
When the ice cream has finished churning, scoop it as quickly as possible into your storage container. Cover it with plastic wrap or parchment paper, if using. (Placing a sheet of parchment paper between the container and lid will help prevent frost, or you can press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream.) Put the container in the freezer. The ice cream will be fully firm in a few hours.
