Pomegranate Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

Ice Creams are a perfect dessert to serve at a party, mostly because you’ll hardly find a person who doesn’t like Ice Cream (or even cake, for that matter!) Since Pomegranates are in season, I thought it would be a good idea to try something delicious that involved pomegranates. This ruby red fruit is a powerhouse of nutrients, and has several health benefits, both for men and women.

I had tried Pomegranate Gelato when we were in Italy, and the taste had lingered on. My first choice was a Sorbet, however, I like my dessert to be creamy rather than icy, so I settled on making Ice Cream instead. And this very easy recipe which uses heavy cream, makes it simple to make a creamy ice cream without using an Ice-cream Maker. Also, as an extra-special treat for your kids, pour some of the mixture into Popsicle molds, and your kids will reward you with hugs and kisses! Recipe adapted from Epicurious; photo courtesy of Janet Hudson.

Creamy Pomegranate Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

Ingredients
2 fresh pomegranates (or 3/4 cup POM juice)
1 fresh lime
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups heavy whipped cream (or CoolWhip)

Candied Pecans
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil

Method
Reserve some pomegranate seeds for garnish, and juice the remaining to make approximately 3/4 cup of fresh pomegranate juice. Add juice of 1 lime to this. If you want, you can use POM juice instead, and add fresh lime juice to it.

Add the powdered sugar to the juice and whisk until completely dissolved.

Whisk in the whipped cream and keep stirring until soft peaks form. You should get a Gelato-like texture, and the ice cream turns a pale pink color.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezable plastic container, even it out and let it freeze for at least 4 hours. Remove the ice cream after 4 hours, give it a whisk again with a hand blender, and freeze again for another 4 hours.

Note: If you do not want a very creamy ice cream, you can eat it simply after freezing the first 4 hours; no need to churn it again. But for high-quality ice cream texture, I recommend the whisk/churn procedure after 4 hours.

Candied Pecan Topping
Line a baking sheet with a large sheet of parchment paper or foil for cooling the pecans.

Stir sugar and oil in a large skillet over medium heat until sugar melts and syrup bubbles, about 3 minutes. Mix in pecans and stir until nuts are toasted and syrup coats them evenly, 5-6 minutes. Turn nuts out onto prepared parchment paper and separate them using 2 forks. Allow them to cool completely, before storing them in an air-tight box. Nuts can be prepared up to 1 month in advance and stored in an airtight container.

Serving the Ice Cream
When ready to serve, transfer the ice cream using a scoop into dessert bowls. Sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on the top and give a gentle mix to spread them evenly into the ice cream. Top with a sprinkling of candied pecans(break them into bits if you prefer, or leave them halved), and dig right in!

This is a wonderful recipe for Ice cream hat can be whipped up without an ice cream maker. It is very light and fluffy, but I couldn’t taste a lot of pomegranate flavor, maybe because the ice cream we have outside has artificial flavors added to enhance the taste. However, we enjoyed the ice cream nonetheless. And the candied pecans were a real treat – combined with the ruby red pomegranate seeds, it was an eye-candy, as well as a mouth-candy, if there is such a word:)

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Pomegranate Martini
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Strawberry Cream Cheese Popsicles
Creamy Pistachio Ice Cream