My favorite dairy filled ice cream was always Ben and Jerry’s. My husband, however, really appreciates sundaes at Friendly’s. When I heard about a vegan sundae contest the first thing that came to my mind was a Watermelon Sundae! Friendly’s makes a “Wattamelon Roll” and I always thought it was so cute. I actually don’t think I have ever tasted it … but I will tell you that when my husband tasted mine he said it was a dead ringer for the real thing (although if you read their ingredient list- “real” isn’t the word that comes to mind).

I formed my ice cream watermelon in a bowl, but it was a bit hard to get out. Next time I think I should try forming a log. I played around with the concept of what qualifies as a sundae. Fresh watermelon and peach with maple candy pecans serve as a base for the watermelon sherbet (below). Above, I layered lime sherbet, chocolate chips, watermelon sherbet, candied nuts, and topped with a chocolate dipped dehydrated watermelon slice.

My ice cream colors are not as bright as the commercial version because I don’t use food coloring. In the future I could add a teaspoon of beet juice (give or take) and it would be more pink.

The pink ice cream is watermelon sherbet with chocolate covered dehydrated watermelon chunks (the chunks are outstanding by the way). The green ice cream is a lime sherbet (the green color comes from avocado). Please don’t give up on me here: you might be thinking avocado would be weird, but it is very creamy and delicious. This recipe only takes about 30 minutes of actual work, but each element needs to be prepared at different times so it takes about 2 days to execute (my ice cream tumbler needs 24 hours in between batches).

Lime Sherbet Recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 cup canned coconut milk (full fat)
1/2 cup agave
1 cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 ripe avocado (under-ripe will not be good)
2 limes, zest and juice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Combine the coconut milk, agave, and rice milk in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil (whisking occasionally as it heats). Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, whisking frequently. (This heating process is important for the texture of the ice cream.) Set aside to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Puree the coconut milk mixture with the avocado and lime zest and juice (I add a bit of liquid at a time to be sure the avocado isn’t chunky).

Pour into an ice cream maker and use according to the manufactures instructions.

Enjoy now or wait until you make the watermelon flavor too! (If you have left overs in the freezer, just let the ice cream soften a bit before enjoying again.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watermelon Sherbet Recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 (13-ounce) can coconut milk (full fat)
1/3 cup agave
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped watermelon
1/3 cup chocolate covered dehydrated watermelon* or chocolate chips

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Combine the coconut milk, agave, and vanilla extract in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil (whisking occasionally as it heats). Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, whisking frequently. (This heating process is important for the texture of the ice cream.) Set aside to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Puree the watermelon chunks and strain out the pulp.

Combine the chilled ice cream mixture and watermelon juice. Pour into an ice cream maker and use according to the manufactures instructions. Add the chocolate chunks at the end.

Enjoy! (If you have left overs in the freezer, just let the ice cream soften a bit before enjoying again.)

* Basically dehydrate 1/3 inch cubes of watermelon in a dehydrator until chewy/crunchy. Then dip in melted chocolate.

I am sharing this recipe on Sweetly Raw, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Wellness Weekend, and Allergy Free Wednesdays