Lilacs have a very sentimental meaning to me. I will always remember being way younger and going on a bike ride with my friend and cutting lilac branches with flowers in different spots around parks and outside of people’s fences. If you want lilacs in a vase in the city, you will have to go on a walk during the night and try to steal them responsibly. But, if you want to use any kinds of edible flowers in cooking, make sure they come from a more remote place. I picked these up at my grandmother’s house. With one intention only – making lilac ice cream.
Are lilacs edible?
Lilacs are absolutely edible and delicious for that matter.
But, just like many floral flavors, rose, lavender, and such, they have that taste that reminisces of soap. At least for me. Rosewater, rose-flavored desserts, and lilacs too, all remind me of the taste of soap. Let’s not even start on lavender. After visiting Savoy, one kind of has enough lavender memories for a lifetime.
But, the lilac flavour is not overpowering or too strong and makes for great ice cream and dessert flavoring.
Lilac symbolism is very romantic. Their meaning talks about first love, innocence, purity, and sometimes even passion.
So, no wonder that when each year lilac season hits, I want to bring all of them inside my apartment and put them around my bed. And then when you are asleep next to them, it really is a magical feeling. Some flower scents are overpowering and even make me sneeze, like lilies, but lilacs are the ultimate reminder of early summer.
To make lilac ice cream some steps need to be made. This will be a no-churn ice cream recipe, which consists of sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream. Those two should be of somewhat equal amounts to make nice smooth ice cream.
First, we will start with infused lilac cream. For this step, you will have to heat some heavy cream and pour it over the lilacs. Now, it should start steaming and then you should let it cool a bit before pouring over the lilacs. Ideally, you should pour warm, not hot cream over the lilacs and let them infuse overnight in the fridge, or you could also do that with cold cream.
Since this recipe consists of so much sugar, I decided to cut it with some fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Since you wouldn’t want the cream to curdle, lemon is added to the condensed milk and stirred in until smooth. In this step, I also added some more lilac flowers just for the looks and colors inside this no-churn lilac ice cream.
Loaf tins work perfectly for most ice creams. This lilac recipe calls for a cold loaf tin, preferably one that has been sitting in the freezer for about 30 minutes. The amount of sugar, fat, and air whipped into the cream will not let this ice cream freeze solid. The main thing is to fold the cream in the condensed milk slowly, as you can see I overdid it and it became very liquid pretty quickly, but don’t worry, the ice cream still came out great. But, in case it is a little hard once you take it out of the fridge, let it sit for any time between 5-7 minutes. Then it will be easier to scoop and enjoy.
This lilac ice cream is the perfect recipe to make for a small or medium gathering and serve in beautiful crystal trays or cocktail glasses. Of course, you can just eat it any way you want…
I have just realized that making no-churn ice creams is super easy. This may be the year that I stop not liking ice cream because I will be the one making it and therefore will have to eat it. I promise to explore some dairy-free recipes next because the amount of sugar AND milk with a high percentage of fat, leaves me feeling heavy.
Lilac ice cream
Equipment
- Loaf tin
Ingredients
- Bunch of lilac flowers that have been washed under cold water
- 500 ml heavy cream
- 500 g sweetened condensed milk
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place a loaf pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes
- Wash the lilac flowers in cold water
- To infuse the cream with lilacs heat the cream and let cool a little bit before pouring over the lilacs
- Let cool completely and refrigerate until super cold
- Strain out the flowers and whip the cream with a pinch of salt
- In a separate bowl mix the sweetened condensed milk with lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth
- Add in some extra lilac flowers and stir in the cream
- Pour the mixture in the cold loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer
- Ideally, freeze overnight
- Thaw for 5-7 minutes before serving