After the wild, runaway success of our experimentations with one-ingredient banana ice cream, my friends and I have wondered if it was possible to work this magic with other sorts of fruits. Most fruit will just turn into a sorbet, when run frozen through a food processor. But what about avocados, I wondered. They have a bit of fat — could they make magic ice cream as well?
Well, yes and no. First, a recap. The magic of one-ingredient banana ice cream goes like this: You peel a banana, freeze it in chunks, then blend it in a food processor. It gets crumbly, then sort of mushy, and then, all of a sudden — presto! It turns into soft-serve ice cream.
• See it here: How To Make Creamy Ice Cream with Just One Ingredient!
The fat in the banana is what makes this possible; it helps emulsify the frozen banana into something very like ice cream.
I was curious whether this would work with other fruits. (I'm especially curious about cherimoyas and pawpaws, but couldn't get my hands on these.) Avocado sprang to mind — it is a little fatty, after all!
So I peeled and sliced an avocado, and put it in a small container to freeze. I added the juice of a lime, and a tablespoon of sugar. After freezing overnight, the mixture was completely solid. I hacked it into chunks and put it in the food processor. I blended and blended — hoping for magic!
Well, here's what happened:
• It took a very, very long time for the avocado to break down. It freezes really hard!
• Once it started breaking down, it was almost impossible to get it smooth enough in my little KitchenAid chopper. The avocado always had small bits in it.
• So I tried blending it with a couple different methods: A handheld blender, and in a jar attached to my full-sized blender. In both methods, the avocado stuck to the sides of the container; it was hard to whip it consistently.
In the end, the avocado had nearly defrosted and while it was quite smooth, it wasn't completely free of nubs and solid bits of avocado. I froze it again, then scooped it. It did taste good, with a rich, incredibly creamy mouthfeel.
I wonder if a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender might do a better job, and make this a magic trick indeed. But frankly, if you really want avocado ice cream, I think that simply pureeing an unfrozen avocado, and freezing it afterwards is probably a better idea. (Or try this recipe from Desert Candy, or this dairy-free version with tequila from Rick Bayless.) But it was worth a try, and it just reinforced the sheer magic of banana ice cream!
So, my question is: Has anyone done this successfully? Have you ever made avocado ice cream out of frozen avocado chunks? It seems like an idea with potential, but I'm not sure if I executed it well.
Related: How To Make Creamy Ice Cream with Just One Ingredient!
(Images: Faith Durand)
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Maybe just freeze it for less time than overnight? I'm guessing bananas would have a hard time breaking down when they're fresh from a deep freezing.
I puree avocado with coconut milk. If you freeze that mixture and break it up a few times to prevent crystallization, you get something with a smooth and creamy mouthfeel similar to ice cream.
After years of oogling, I ordered myself a vitamix, I will be trying this for sure, I'll let you know how it turns out! :)
Huh, very interesting. It reminds me of boba/tapioca/bubble tea shops. It seems like all the ones I go to have an avocado smoothie variety. I wonder how they make theirs?
got me thinking... bananas don't have *that* much fat. I don't think that's what makes bananas the ideal one ingredient ice cream. I believe its also the high amounts of pectin they contain... that lends them the ideal mouthfeel.
Making a pudding out of avocados first, before freezing will lend itself to a better final ice cream product.
Myself- I'd combine the bananas and avocados... :)
Try this, I do it in my icecream maker and it always works well. It does freeze pretty solid but if you leave it out for 15 mins or so it does fine:
2 avocados
2ish shots of tequilla
1/2 canned peaches in heavy syrup
juice from 1 lime
puree until smooth and put in an icecream maker. I would imagine you could also just stir it every so often as it freezes.
Bubble tea shops and Vietnamese restaurants blend unfrozen avocado with ice and soy milk (or sweetened condensed milk) to make their milkshakes.
I bet the alcohol in Starryeyedspryte's recipe helps create the creamy texture--it freezes at a lower temperature, so it might keep the avocado puree from freezing rock-solid. Is there a non-boozy way to recreate this effect?
I'm pretty sure it's not the fat in bananas that makes them so creamy when frozen. In any case, I've had good results using frozen mango chunks, too. Never tried avocado, but I suspect it would be better to purée first, then freeze.
Bananas have NO FAT! well less than a gram anyway. I think the reason they blend so smoothly is because they are high in natural sugars and are not water rich like other fruits. I think your best bet is using a high seed blender or blending your avocado base first and then throwing it in the ice cream maker.
Or if you have a masticating juicer you can always attach the puree/nutbutter maker attachment and throw the frozen avocado in the feeder tube and then mix with sweetener!
I live in pawpaw country (Athens, Ohio!), and it makes delicious ice cream! I don't know if the pawpaw ice cream I've had was one ingredient, my guess is no.
you can check Lillian's test kitchen out, she makes an avocado ice cream.
just puree the avocado's first and then freeze them.
I make avocado ice cream with just 3 ingredients and no ice-cream maker too - mash avocado up with milk and sugar (or condensed milk is good too). Add ice and blend and you've got an avocado smoothie. As ice-cream (without a maker) it does become pretty solid, but if you leave it out on the counter for a bit before eating it, it usually is somewhat spoonable. The first time I had frozen avocado was in the Philippines and a neighbour sold a-go-go (like a freeze pop). I haven't tried it yet, but I bet this will work really well as a popsicle. YUM!
I make 2 ingredient soft serve in the food processor all the time with the addition of one small tablespoon or two of coconut milk! Frozen mango chunks have the exact texture of the magic 1 ingredient banana soft serve if you just add a tbl of coconut milk. I've tried blueberries and mangoes and next on the list are peaches! It's so easy and rich and creamy considering I only use a tiny bit of coconut milk.
i always blend avocado with riped pear into puree and freeze for my baby... well, i enjoyed it too....just thaw in counter top for 15 minutes,. you can enjoy the ice cream already
seems like there are better ways to enjoy avocados.... this is way too much work for a substandard result. Staceyann Dolenti
I posted this recipe in response to the frozen banana ice cream - mash the avocado first, mix with 1 Tbsp honey and the juice of 1 lemon/lime - then freeze. If you freeze it for more than 6 hours you will need to let it sit on the bench for 20min before serving, but it will be creamy.
It works in the VitaMix! : )