Salted Watermelon Ice Cream

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~ raw, gluten-free. dairy-free ~

Many years ago, I gave 80/10/10 by Dr. Douglas Graham a good shot.  I won’t go into great details about it, but it stands for; 80% of your food comes from complex carbohydrates, 10% from fat and 10% lean protein.  The whole idea of living mainly off of fruit was very appealing to me.

I LOVE fruit.  It seemed like a match made in heaven. I bought his book, his complete program on CD/DVD and attended a three-day seminar put on by Dr. Graham.  I wish I could report that I thrived and did well on the plan, but I didn’t.  It just wasn’t meant for my body at the time.  But what does all this have to do with my ice cream….

Watermelon!

On his plan, I was eating at least 3 pounds of watermelon (and other foods) a day!  I never grew tired of it, in fact, I just wanted it more and more.  Bright red… ice-cold… crisp… chin-drippingly good! As odd as it may sound, I grew up learning to put salt on my fruit. It brings out the natural sweetness.  I think it started with mouth-puckering green apples that we would pick off the tree.  To sprinkle Himalayan sea salt on my watermelon is a culinary-gasim to me.

With the hot weather being relentless as of late, the thought of watermelon and ice cream sounded downright appealing.  So I thought that I would put the two together. You can blend the flesh of watermelon straight into the ice cream, you can juice the melon, adding that to the ice cream or you can add chunks of fresh watermelon. I wanted… needed something different.

I didn’t want the ice cream to be a one-note-song if you know what I mean.  And often, I don’t care to add fresh fruit chunks to my ice cream, especially if I don’t plan on eating it right away and have to freeze it solid.  The fruit texture is off-putting to me at that point.  I decided to cut the melon up in 1×1″ squares and dehydrate them.  Before sliding the trays into the dehydrator, I sprinkled my favorite salt on top to bring out that watermelon burst of flavor.

The next technique that I threw into the mix here was to only dry the watermelon until chewy, not hard. I didn’t want to lace the ice cream base with hard “pebbles” of melon.  Between the salt and the dehydrating technique, the ice cream turned out perfectly… just what I was envisioning.  I used coconut as the base for this recipe which turned out to a great pairing and the coconut didn’t overpower the watermelon at all.  If you can’t or don’t wish to use coconut, you can make it with soaked cashews instead.  Another ingredient that will come up is my choice of using…

Sweet, loving, raw honey…

I used raw honey as my main sweetener for this ice cream. I did this because raw honey consists of sugars with smaller molecules than those of table sugar, so it’s more than twice as effective at lowering the freezing point of ice cream.  Faster freezing means smaller ice crystals, one of the keys for a creamy ice cream.  If you are vegan, you can try whichever liquid sweetener you prefer.

Ingredients:

yields 5 cups batter

• 28 ounces thick, high fat coconut milk, raw or canned
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 squirt Liquid NuNatural stevia
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1 cup semi-dried salted watermelon chunks

Preparation:

1. In a high-speed blender, combine the coconut milk, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, stevia, and salt. Blend on high for 60 seconds until creamy.
2. Place the blender carafe in the fridge or freezer for 1 hour.
   • If chilled in the fridge it can stay in there for up to 8 hours.  But don’t leave in the freezer more than an hour or it will freeze solid.
   • Pre-chilling it prepares it for the ice cream machine.
3. Once chilled pour the batter into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
   • Make sure that the ice cream machine bowl is completely frozen before using.  Tip: Wrap the ice cream maker bowl in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer until the cooling liquid is completely frozen – about 10-22 hours. The plastic bag will help protect the bowl from freezer burn.
   • Due to the long freezing period required for the freezer bowl, it is best to keep it stored in the freezer at all times. This ensures that the bowl will be ready whenever you are.
4. At the tail end of making the ice cream, add the watermelon, making sure that it gets well incorporated.
5. If you like soft serve consistency, you can enjoy your ice cream immediately. If you desire a more firm texture, transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 2-4 more hours.
6. Before serving it is best to take the ice cream out of the freezer for about 10 minutes ahead of time so it can have a chance to soften.
7. Eat within 1 month.  Remember to always store ice cream in freezer-safe, airtight containers to prevent freezer burn.

• What is Himalayan pink salt and does it really matter?  Click (here) to read more about it.
• Click (here) to learn why I use stevia.
• I use specific ingredients when creating ice cream at home, to learn more, click (here).

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Tags: Dairy Free, Dehydrated, Gluten Free, Raw Ice Cream, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, Vegan Option