The Macadamia’s chef extraordinaire, Annelle Whyte invites readers to join her and her daughter, Stella in macadamia heaven with her unique “super food” Macadamia Praline Avocado ice cream.
First up, you do not need ice-cream makers or any other convoluted and obscure kitchen gadgets.
With that out of the way, this is a delicious (somewhat) healthy indulgence. If anyone asks, the answer is: it contains TWO superfoods, so what is not to love?
Especially now as we hot up for summer and hopefully freer days!
A three-part process that your kids will love being involved in, especially licking the condensed milk can, as my four-year-old daughter did, old school style!
To start, the macadamia praline:
Ingredients
- 300g macadamias (roughly chopped or in pieces) lightly toasted in a pan or low oven
- 425g light brown sugar
- 125ml whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1tsp salt
- 80g butter
I know, it looks a little like the ingredients for fudge!
Method
- Get a large baking pan at the ready and spread the toasted macadamia pieces evenly in it to use later
- Mix the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted
- Turn up the heat and bring to the boil for a couple of minutes until it forms “hard-ball stage”
“Hard-ball”: the syrup will form thick, “ropey” threads as it drips from the spoon. The sugar concentration is rather high now, which means there is less and less moisture in the sugar syrup. A little of this syrup dropped into cold water will form a squidgy ball)
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture evenly across all the macadamias. You can use a fork to gently spread the mixture around to ensure all the macadamias are well coated
- Leave the praline to cool until hard (you can place the pan into the fridge or freezer to speed this up if necessary)
- Once hard, using a fork, knife, or your hands, crumble the praline to the size pieces you would like in your ice-cream
And then, the avocado ice-cream:
Ingredients
- 3 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted (or only 2 avocados if you would like to dial it down a bit)
- 1 can of condensed milk (or 1 ½ can if you prefer your ice cream a little sweeter)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cups of double thick cream
Method
- Add all the ingredients to a blender until smooth. Or you can use a hand-held electric beater to mix until smooth (make sure no avo chunks or pieces remain)
- Transfer the mixture to the freezer for 2 or 3 hours until it begins to set, but is still soft enough to stir the macadamia praline in before allowing it to set fully
The avo adds to the ice cream’s creaminess, but what you may not expect is how wonderfully if lifts the ice-cream to new refreshing heights, the subtle avo flavour remains in a light yet creamy treat!
To finish: the melding of heaven:
- Remove the half set soft ice cream from the freezer and mix in half to two-thirds of the praline. Saving the other half or remaining third to sprinkle on top and individual servings
- Transfer the ice-cream mixture to a freezer-safe tub (an empty shop-bought ice-cream tub is about the right size) and sprinkle more praline on top
- Leave to set fully overnight and voila!
I cannot tell you enough how worth a try this is, whether it is to make the praline only, ice cream only, or both!
