This dairy-free cantaloupe soft serve ice cream is a bright and creamy treat, livened up by a basil garnish to complement the sweet with a little bit of savory.
I’m so glad that Shelby & Ross Produce was willing to share their cantaloupe with me so that I could bring you this summer treat! They provided me with product, but my opinions of the huge, sweet and juicy melons are my own (if you can get an idea of what I thought of them!).
One of the best parts about S&R cantaloupe is the fact that they’ll be selling them until Labor Day! There’s plenty of time to get to the farmers market and see them. If you don’t get cantaloupe, they even have watermelon (and it’s massive!).
Melons are a summertime staple – ideal for picnics and parties. Then I got to thinking – one of my favorite foods, ICE CREAM, is also a summer staple. What about melon ice cream? And then I realized I was still in dairy-free month, so I figured I’d give it all a try in one fell swoop.
I also have this “thing” called Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS). Basically, I’m super allergic to ragweed (and all other plants, let’s be real) and so raw things that had been pollinated by ragweed make my throat itchy. Unfortunately, this is why I grew up not liking melons that much – they hurt my mouth! The good news is, when foods are cooked, they are okay to eat. Although you don’t normally cook fruit, zapping my cantaloupe juice and puree in the microwave for a minute cooked it enough for me to pleasantly eat this ice cream! I was so excited! Just be sure to cool completely before adding to the rest of the ingredients.
Confession: this is advertised as soft serve for a reason… It freezes very hard. But you can freeze it and then set it out for about 15 minutes, although it still doesn’t exactly like to separate from the scoop. Just use a spoon for it all. Trust me.
Local Spotlight: Local honey and, of course, cantaloupe from Shelby & Ross Produce! Learn more about S&R at their Facebook page and Instagram.
Homegrown Spotlight: Basil is still going strong in the garden!
Don’t forget the basil on top! And stir it in. It gives this dairy-free cantaloupe soft serve such a nice flavor, and even makes the leaves icy and yummy! Hope you will #enJOY!
xxHillary
Dairy-Free Cantaloupe Soft Serve
Ingredients
- 1 C. pureed cantaloupe about 1/4 S&R cantaloupe
- 1 C. cantaloupe juice
- ¼ C. lemon juice juice of two lemons
- 1 can coconut milk full fat
- 1 C. almond milk
- ½ C. honey
- ½ t. fine Himalayan salt
- 5-10 leaves of basil
Instructions
- Peel and chop cantaloupe.
- Puree cantaloupe with lemon juice in a blender. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours, or until puree settles at the top and separates from the juice.
- Add 1 C. of juice and 1 C. puree into a bowl.
- Whisk all other ingredients together except basil in a bowl until frothy and thick.
- Place ingredients in an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Scoop out of ice cream maker and garnish or mix in a pinch of chopped basil per bowl of ice cream.
- Serve immediately.
- #enJOY!
Recipe Notes
Paleo if you approve of honey. Semi-strict vegan if you approve of honey. Honey can also be substituted for your favorite liquid sweetener, probably with varying degrees of success. I'd recommend brown rice syrup.
If you have OAS, you can zap the cantaloupe puree and juice in the microwave for 1-1 1/2 minutes to make it edible.
If refreezing, allow to defrost on the counter for 15-25 minutes before serving.
for a sec i didn’t believe that it was cantaloupe soft serve, bc it’s just a pretty pale shade! but this sounds perfect and summery. i had cantaloupe sorbet from jeni’s ice cream a couple summers ago and it was like sunshine and happiness in a cone.
I know, it surprisingly didn’t turn the base a very orange color! It’s all sunshines and happiness inside, for sure. 🙂
How yummy! I’m actually not usually a cantaloupe fan, but this sounds delicious!
Sarah – I’m not either, partly because of OAS I can’t eat it in very many forms. But this made me able to eat it so I could appreciate its flavor!!