When it comes to ice cream cravings, sometimes the taste of plain ol’ vanilla or chocolate doesn’t cut it. At the same time, you don’t want to consume a lot of sugars and artificial flavors when having a pint of your favorite guilty pleasure. Luckily, we came across A Brown Table, a food blog that leaves you feeling much less guilty after eating dessert and doesn’t skip out on the flavors.
Nik Sharma, the brains (and the hands) behind A Brown Table, started his blog back in 2011 as an exploration of his first passion, cooking. Taking the flavors from his Indian heritage and merging it with his experience in the United States created a tasty cross cultural experience in every bite. “I feel like I’m on the fence, halfway between both [cultures]. I want to tell people that there’s a lot more than curries and naan to Indian food.” Sharma explained in his interview with Yahoo Food.
Not only does Sharma fuse these two world of flavors, he assures us that his desserts are healthier than most. “When it comes to desserts, I try to cut back on the amount of carbohydrates and fats without compromising on taste,” Sharma states on his blog. “I’m not a big fan of artificial sweeteners or additives in the food that I eat and I like to know where my food and ingredients come from.”
Check out our favorite flavor-packed ice creams from A Brown Table that are all perfect for the summer time (or any time, really):
Cherry Darjeeling Tea Lemon Sorbet
Okay, so this one is technically sorbet… but it’s still delicious!
“Cherries make a happy sticky red mess whether you’re eating or working with them in the kitchen. The juicier they are, the bigger the mess they make… But don’t let the mess scare you off, this sorbet will make you very happy this summer. I added a good dose of dark Indian tea leaves, the Darjeeling kind and infused the woody tea flavors into the sugar syrup before mixing it in with the fresh lemon juice and cherries.”
Find recipe here.
Black Peppercorn, Cardamom and Raspberry Sauce Ice Cream
“Cardamom is probably one of the most prominent spices you will find Indian desserts. Indians love infusing it in almost everything from masalas (spice mixes) to warm and cold desserts. In this particular ice cream, it lends a cool fragrant flavor. I also infused a few black peppercorns into the milk and added a little extra ground black pepper (the extra amount is completely optional) to balance the coolness without making the ice cream spicy hot.”
Find recipe here.
Salted Roasted Figs and Cardamom Ice Cream
“I love fresh figs, they are fat and juicy and sweet like nectar when ripe. Every fig season, I make it a point to eat some on a weekly basis whenever possible. We had a couple of hot days this past week and I found another excuse to make some ice cream. I decided to use cardamom for the base because the spice has a wonderful cooling fragrant taste. Also, cardamom is to Indian cooking what vanilla is to Western cuisine when it comes to desserts, though I should add that Indian cuisine also uses this great spice to season meats and vegetables in dishes.”
Find recipe here.
Red Beet, Rose Water, Honey, Goat Cheese and Goat Milk Ice Cream
“I started off by oven roasting my red beets before I pureed and stirred them into goat milk. The roasting helps to enhance the natural sweetness of the beets by cooking the sugars inside and give them a light caramel flavor. The ice cream base is sweetened with a little honey and brown sugar and then flavored with a light dash of rose water. The natural tanginess of the goat cheese helps to balance the flavors.”
Find recipe here.
Orange Blossom, Clove Ice Cream with Candied Blood Orange Freckles
“Orange blossom water is one of the lightest and freshest floral scents to work with. It’s very popular in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking and it contributes a delicate sweet flavor to this ice cream. The candied orange chips provide the tangy citrus flavor to the ice cream in concentrated little bursts with every spoon you eat. I’ve also infused the ice cream base with a faint hint of cloves, orange blossom honey and a bit of honeycomb to heighten the flavors.”
Find recipe here.
Be sure to check out A Brown Table for even more delicious recipes.
All photos courtesy of A Brown Table.
