It’s peak raspberry season right now in Quebec, with the autumn varieties starting to appear. Oh, how time flies and it’s already the second week of August. What better way to celebrate the raspberry season than to enjoy them fresh as they are? Apart from that they can also be made into my old childhood favourite, raspberry ripple ice cream. Is it your favourite as well?
A trip down memory lane
Growing up in Singapore in the 80s, there were ice cream carts along the streets peddling treats such as ice cream sandwiches. The ice cream came in hefty wrapped slabs, which the ice cream seller would fish out of his dry ice-chilled cart (the freezer-motocycle), and slice off an inch-thick piece expertly with a sharp knife before peeling off the cut wrapping around the slice of ice cream. Then he would retrieve 2 crisp rectangle wafers from a large biscuit tin and sandwich the ice cream between the wafers before handing it to the eager customer.
Ice cream sandwich, Singapore-style
The wafers were more often than not smaller than the slice of ice cream, one would think that they served more as ‘platforms’ for one’s fingers to grasp onto the ice cream and enjoy before it all melted in the tropical Singapore weather. If you wanted something with more substance, you could get the ice cream wrapped with a thick slice of Asian-style bread (a sweetish rainbow-hued (!) soft bread). These ice cream sandwiches were also offered in traditional flavours (durian or sweetcorn, anyone?), as well as more modern flavours such as mint-chocolate chip, chocolate, and raspberry ripple. Ice cream carts still exist today, with even more updated flavours (and increased prices)!
For me, I would order either mint-chocolate chip or raspberry ripple. I had a soft spot for the cheerfully reddish raspberry swirls around the creamy white ice cream, though I only got to try real raspberries much later in my teenage years when introduced to them by one of my cousins, W. As an imported fruit, raspberries were very pricey and quite an indulgent treat for us girls. Now, almost 15 000km away, I find myself buying pricey fruits as occasional treats for my sons. Only thing is that they’re longans and durian instead of raspberries!
Red and white raspberry ripple
With the red and white colours of this raspberry ripple ice cream, it makes for a nice patriotic (or nostalgic) treat especially since the 9th of August is Singapore’ National Day and her national colours are red and white. Happy 51st Birthday, Singapore! Coincidentally, it was National Raspberry N’ Cream Day on the 7th of August in the United States. Raspeberry Ripple has British roots, but I guess it counts as there’s both raspberry and cream, right? 🙂
A special ingredient
I’m not a big fan of coconut milk-based ice creams as I find them too icey for my liking, being too used to creamy, dairy-based types scoopable right out of the freezer. Inspired by the Turkish ice cream Dondurma, I decided to add gluten-free cassava flour to produce a fuller, custardy, mouthfeel to replicate traditional egg-based ice cream. It’s almost magic! Come to think of it, the traditional raspberry ripple ice cream I grew up eating probably contained neither eggs nor real raspberries!
Cassava flour (not to be confused with tapioca starch or flour) is getting more readily available and can be bought online or in stores (check international/ Brazilian supermarkets). You can make it without the cassava flour, but it will not be as creamy. Just make sure to get the unfermented version, as the fermented ones can yield a sour taste. As for creamy/ creamed honey, I use a fantastic creamy summer honey from Miels d’Anicet , a local company that makes possibly the best and smoothest honey I have ever tasted! For Amazon shoppers, I have linked a creamy honey in the links below.
Even if you have to get imported raspberries, go make this. If you can get local fresh raspberries, what are you waiting for? 😉 It’s dessert, and worth the effort. I promise that you will enjoy this raspberry ripple ice cream, no wafer or bread needed!
Where to purchase certain ingredients online (affiliate links):
Where to get cassava flour outside of Amazon (what I have found so far):
- In the US, there’s Otto’s Naturals.(I personally use Otto’s)
- If you are in the UK, you can get Tiana cassava flour at Perfectly Paleo or Amazon.co.uk. (Thanks, Jo!)
- Otto’s cassava flour can be bought online in Canada at Flour Confections.
- For Singapore, you can get Ladang Lima cassava flour at Glee Kitchen. (I’ve tried this and it’s good!)
- For Australia, Pantry Innovations stocks Otto’s cassava flour.
- For New Zealand, Otto’s cassava flour is available at Food Compass.
As for other countries, check the above links (the country nearest to you) and enquire if they ship overseas, or check at the international aisle of your local supermarket! You may just find cassava flour there.
- RASPBERRY SAUCE
- 255g (1.5 packs) fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons creamy honey
- ICE CREAM BASE
- 800ml (2 cans) coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons (32g) cassava flour
- ¼ cup creamed honey
- 1 pinch Himalayan salt
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- MAKE THE RASPBERRY SAUCE
- Place raspberries and honey in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the raspberries soften and the mixture becomes syrupy
- Sieve and set aside to cool before refrigerating in a covered glass jar
- MAKE THE ICE CREAM BASE
- Combine 1 cup (250ml) of coconut milk with the cassava flour, stirring thoroughly and pressing the back of the spoon against the sides of the bowl to break up any lumps of flour
- Combine the remaining coconut milk, honey, and salt in a large saucepan
- Heat over medium heat until it barely simmers
- Whisk in the cassava mixture until fully combined and thickened, in about 5 minutes
- Blend with a blender or hand-held immersion blender to remove any remaining lumps of flour (if any)
- Transfer into a resealable container and cool completely before chilling in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled through
- Churn according to your ice cream maker instructions
- Once done, transfer to a shallow casserole and swirl through half of the raspberry sauce
- Scoop into a resealable container and freeze
- Reserve the remaining raspberry sauce for drizzling when serving the ice cream
You get to decide how much raspberry sauce you would like to swirl into your ice cream; I swirled in half the batch and reserved the rest of the sauce for drizzling over the scoops when serving.
