Strawberry Ice Cream in an Ice Flower Bowl
An elegant dessert featuring a bowl made by freezing water with colorful edible flowers to create a delicate ice-flower vessel, filled with strawberry ice cream—a creative and visually stunning treat.
Ingredients
edible flowers and leaves
a pinch
ice cubes
36~48
fine sugar (for the strawberry ice cream; add more to taste)
60 g
water
4 tbsp
egg yolks
2
cream
300 ml
strawberries
650 g
cherry liqueur (can be substituted with lemon juice)
2 tbsp
Instructions
1
Make the Strawberry Ice Cream
Dissolve the sugar in the water, stirring from time to time; once it comes to a boil, stop stirring and cook to 115°C (240°F). Beat the egg yolks. Slowly stream the hot syrup into the yolks while whisking constantly with a whisk or an electric mixer. Keep beating for 5 minutes until the mixture has cooled and become pale and thick. Gradually add the cream and mix until completely combined. Hull the strawberries, rinsing them only lightly if needed, then purée them with the cherry liqueur in a food processor to make about 500 ml of strawberry purée. Pass the purée through a sieve into the cream-and-yolk mixture. Mix thoroughly and sweeten to taste. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. At the same time, chill one large bowl in the freezer. Once the ice cream has thickened, transfer it to the pre-chilled bowl, cover, and place in the freezer for at least 6 hours.
2
Make the Ice Flower Bowl
Rinse the flowers and leaves in a colander and pat dry with a tea towel. Place one large bowl and one slightly smaller bowl in the freezer to chill. Put ice cubes in a plastic bag, wrap the bag in a kitchen towel, and crush the ice into small pieces with a rolling pin. Place 6–8 ice cubes in the large bowl, then nest the smaller bowl on top of the ice and weight it down. Fill the gap between the two bowls with ice water. Scatter a layer of crushed ice in the gap, then add some flowers and leaves with the petals facing outward. Continue layering flowers, leaves, and crushed ice between the bowls, using the ice to hold the blooms in place. Use a slotted spoon to pour ice water into the gaps between the ice cubes. Place the large bowl in the freezer until the ice flower bowl is completely frozen, about 3–4 hours.
3
Unmold and Assemble
If the strawberry ice cream has been frozen for more than 6 hours, transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator to soften before serving. Take the ice flower bowl out of the freezer. Pour hot water into the inner small bowl for about 30 seconds, then lift the small bowl out. Wrap the large bowl in a hot tea towel to release the ice bowl, then transfer it to a plate lined with a kitchen towel and return it to the freezer. Use an ice cream scoop to form balls of strawberry ice cream and place them in the ice flower bowl.
