Raspberry Ice Cream with Oats and Honey (or cream crowdie ice cream)

Loaded with healthful raspberries, oats, and honey, this could also be called  cream crowdie ice cream. Cream crowdie is a Scottish dessert, sometimes served at summer weddings. Traditionally, it’s made with whiskey and served cold, but not frozen into an ice cream. It’s unique as ice cream, but it passed the teenaged boy test with flying colors, and that teenaged boy is my biggest critic. So here’s the recipe, waiting for you to try it.

The Inspiration

Honestly? I had never heard of cream crowdie until recently. In her sweet little book, Ice Cream, Susanna Tee beat me to the idea of making it into an ice cream. But I substantially adjusted both the ingredients and the technique, so I’m calling this one my own. There is actually a very interesting history to cream crowdie, so if you enjoy that sort of thing, read about it here.

The texture

Traditional cream crowdie recipes call for toasting the oats, but that creates a very coarse texture, which isn’t so good in an ice cream. So instead of toasting, I soften the oats by soaking them in milk and cream. However, the raspberry seeds give the ice cream a rustic, nutty crunch, even though it’s nut free. That rustic texture makes it difficult to scoop into perfect balls of ice cream. Thus, the somewhat amorphous blobs in the photos.

I wanted to keep this as simple and traditional as possible, but feel free to puree the berries and strain out the seeds, if you prefer a more refined texture. If you’re hankering for a super smooth, typical American raspberry ice cream, try my Raspberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chips.

The flavor

To enhance the raspberry flavor, I use raspberry liqueur in place of the traditonal whiskey. The ice cream is sweet-tart, and intensely raspberry. Of course you can always make it alcohol free.

My favorite gadgets for making ice cream

Scroll right down to the recipe, or check out some of my favorite ice cream tools and gadgets:

• The 1 quart paper containers are great, especially if you’re bringing your homemade treats to parties.
• There is nothing like a Zeroll scoop, with heat conductive fluid in the handle. That helps warm the scoop when you grip the handle, for easy release of the ice cream. We have 2 different size Zerolls, and love them.
• As I’ve said before, our Cuisinart ice cream maker has been going strong for many years, now. I highly recommend it.
• I like that Cuisinart so much that I have a second bowl, so I can make another batch while the first bowl is refreezing.

Raspberry Ice Cream with Oats and Honey (or Cream Crowdie Ice Cream)

Raspberry Ice Cream with Oats and Honey. Healthful and delicious ingredients.

Makes about 1 quart

• 1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tbsp raspberry liqueur (optional)
• 1 and 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, lightly mashed

1. Soak the oats in the milk and 1/2 cup of the cream overnight, or for at least several hours.
2. Stir the honey and liqueur (if using) into the soaked oat mixture, blending thoroughly. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to use.
3. Whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until it holds its shape.
4. In a large bowl, gently mix (by hand) the whipped cream and the oat mixture, blending well.
5. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
6. Transfer to a 1 quart container and store in freezer.

Raspberry Ice Cream with Oats and Honey

Shared on: Tuesdays with a Twist, Backyard Farming Connection #89, Wildcrafting Wednesday #140, HomeAcre Hop #79, Homestead Barn Hop #168, Mostly Homemade Monday, Thank Goodness it’s Monday, Natural Living Monday, Tuesday’s Table