Avocado Ice Cream with Macadamia Praline - Healthy and Delicious!

Recipe Hints and Tips:

• Check for ripeness – avocado ice cream works best with a ripe and ready avocado. With a hass avocado, the skin changes from olive green (unripe), to rich purple (firm ripe), to a black shade (soft ripe) when they are ready to eat. You can also check the top of the avocado – if the ring is brown, then it’s overripe. With other varieties (like shepherd, reed, sharwil and wurtz avocados), you can check by applying gentle pressure on the stem. If it yields, then it’s ready to eat.
• Choose for usage -  consider when you will be making your avocado ice cream when choosing your avocados. If you are shopping on Monday but are not planning on making the ice cream until the weekend, then stock up on hard, un-ripened olive green avocados and let them ripen 4-5 days at room temperature. If the avocado is ripe, then store it in the fridge in the fruit drawer as refrigeration will rapidly slow down the ripening process.
• Protect your ice cream – store in a freezer safe container sealed with cling wrap.
• Line your baking tray - Baking paper has a specially designed non-stick coating will ensure your yummy praline slides out of the tray with ease. No more scraping or scrubbing!
• Macadamia Praline - is not suitable for freezing, store in an airtight snaplock bag for up to 1 week.
  

Avocado Protection Tips

• Ripen at room temperature – Cooler temperatures slow down the ripening process.  It’s best to ripening at room temperature and then move to the fridge.
• Be mindful where you store them - Don’t store your unripe avocados next to overripe fruit (like bananas), unless you want to speed up the ripening process.  If so place your avo in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana or apple.
• Once ripe, store whole in the fruit drawer - Avocados are high ethylene producers, a colourless/odourless gas that acts as a ripening agent and speeds up the spoilage.  Most veggies are sensitive so ensure your fruit and veg is stored in separate drawers in the fridge.
• Protect to prevent moisture loss – wrap your cut avocado as tightly as possible, making sure the exposed surface is pressed flush and tight against the wrap, leaving no air gaps.
• Protect to prevent browning – avocado flesh when exposed to air oxidizes, turning it an unappealing brown colour.  Help prevent this browning by creating an air barrier with cling wrap.
• Always store cut avocados in the fridge – cut fruit must always be stored in the fridge.

What to do if you have Leftover Avocado

• Use it as butter - Avocado is a great substitute for butter - the creamy consistency goes great as a spread. Mash up any leftover avocado and add a drizzle of lemon juice before sealing in an air tight container.
• Make a dip - Another way to use up any leftover avocado is to make a guacamole dip using avocado, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a bit of mayonnaise. Guacamole dip is great on quesadillas and other Mexican dishes but it is also a delicious bread or cracker dip as well.
• Make a puree - If you have a toddler or infant in the house, then another great way to use up any leftover avocado is to create a puree out of it. Simply blend the avocado until you get the desired texture for your bub.
• Freeze it - You can freeze avocado puree to use down the road by pureeing the leftover avocados in a blender or food processor and pouring the mixture into ice cube trays. Once the little blocks have solidified, simply pop them out of the trays and into a snaplock bag. Date and label the bag and store in the freezer for up to five months. You can use the mixture for dips, baby food or smoothies whenever you have a craving for avocado. – make more in line with the fresh pickings article.

For more avocado ideas, be sure to also check out our additional avocado recipes in our new Avocado Section.