Ever since I purchased my ice cream machine, I’ve been racking my brain for interesting ingredients to toss into it. I had big plans to make pineapple sage ice cream with the fresh greens I picked from the garden, but unfortunately when I went to grab them from my refrigerator the other day, they had wilted to an unpleasant state. I was still in the mood to mix up some ice cream, so I turned to another unusual ingredient in my kitchen- rosewater. I had a feeling I would find this pretty tasty as I tend to like unconventional combinations, but the real test would be the palettes of my friends. Since I prefer almond milk over dairy or soy, I stuck with that for the main ingredient. I needed some kind of binder and after some googling, I found that arrowroot powder worked just perfectly and I actually had some in my house leftover from an old gluten-free baking experiment. As my ice cream was mixing, my friend had the brilliant idea to add some olive oil to it and so I did just that. After it mixed for a good thirty minutes, we dove right in with our spoons. I took a bite and discovered that I-with the help of my friend- had created something unusual but more importantly really tasty. It was different and refreshing and I started to have visions of it paired with things like apple crumble. I knew I liked it, but I was extremely curious to see my friends’ reactions. To my surprise, they all loved it. I thought it might be a bit out there for a few of them, but every last one of them ate it up with a smile on their face- even the guy who doesn’t enjoy much in the way of experimental food. The only thing that threw me a bit was the graininess from the arrowroot powder, but the unique flavors that my mouth was experiencing distracted me enough that I didn’t notice it after a few tastes. The additions of rosewater and olive oil would work with any basic ice cream recipe so even if you’d prefer to use dairy or soy – I say have at it! Here’s the recipe…

2 cups almond milk
2 tbsp arrowroot power
1 cup agave
2 eggs
2 tbsp rosewater
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients together in a bowl or container with a spout. Pour into ice cream maker and let mix based on your machine’s instructions.