It’s been pretty warm out lately, and I’ve been having a craving for ice cream. But, I don’t want to keep any in the house. I have a weird rule about not keeping bad foods in the house. If I want it, I must make it myself, or go out and eat it outside. I wanted ice cream (or gelato), but didn’t want to go get in my car to go buy some at the Ossining Pizzeria all by myself. So, I guess I have to make myself some ice cream.

Here is the problem with making ice cream. I would need an ice cream maker. I do not own one, nor have the money for one. Plus if there ever was a uni-tasker, this was one. Hmmm…what was a girl to do?

A little while ago, while I was watching watching TV (a rare occurance), I happened upon Nigella Lawson’s show on the Food Network. I do enjoy her show. The soft lighting, her lovely use of adjectives not normally used to describe the food, and the close ups! It’s almost like soft porn for food.

In this particular episode, she was in her robe since she was making this first thing in the morning (but with perfect hair and makeup of course), and she literally whipped it up in no time and just stuck it in the freezer. Easy peazy! I can do that!

So, I gathered my ingredients for Nigella Lawson’s Margarita Ice Cream:

I used two and a half limes to get a 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice.

I’m not a big drinker, so I don’t have much alcohol on hand, nor did I want to buy a bottle for a few tablespoons worth. At the liquor store, they had tequila and orange liqueur in the tiny bottle sizes, but only these two brands. Good enough for me!

So, I mixed it all up and whipped it by hand until it was almost like a softly whipped cream, but not quite yet. Then I poured it into an air tight container, and threw it in the freezer for it to set overnight.

The next morning, I was up super early (for a Sunday) to go biking. As I was noshing on some breakfast (fueling up with a slice a bread with peanut butter and nutella, and washed down with some Perpetuem…breakfast of champions!), I couldn’t wait to see what happened to the ice cream. So I took a peek and a taste test.

Mmmm…boozy!
To serve, I took some doubles glasses I had, salted up the rims and dropped in some ice cream. Just to clarify, this isn’t really ice cream in the technical sense, and scooping it out, you can tell. It was crumbly, which made presentation not as sexy.

I also added in some candied lime slices I had also made the night before and topped it off with some fresh lime zest. The candied lime slices needed some more time in their sugar bath, and I didn’t care too much for them.

The ice cream was very yummy, and a perfect treat on a hot summers day. It isn’t as creamy as ice cream normally is, but it’s still cold, and it still had a nice lighter creaminess to it. The lime juice and the alcohol made it absolutely refreshing, very much a margarita in ice cream form!

Another reason why it’s awesome to be a grown-up!