Believe It Or Not, You Can Make Ice Cream With Vegetables! Here's How

Branch out from your favorite summer fruit flavors and try a different kind of sweet treat — vegetable ice cream. It really isn't as strange as it sounds, because plenty of vegetables register sweet on our taste buds, like sweet corn, cucumber, beets, and carrots, to name just a few.

Click here for the 10 delicious ice cream recipes that make having an ice cream machine worthwhile.

Want to try experimenting? Here is how we did it. Start with your favorite vanilla ice cream base. If you don't have one on hand, go for of these favorites. Next, pick the vegetable you want to turn into you new favorite ice cream flavor. For corn, we like to steep corn cobs (kernels removed) in milk and cream for 30 minutes to an hour, or until your desired level of corn flavor is achieved. For beets, try roasting them in the oven like these, and then puréeing in a blender. Replace some of the liquid in the recipe with about one cup of the beet purée to maintain the ratio. Also, remember that beets are sweet, so adjust the sugar accordingly. Follow the same process for carrots. For a sweeter flavor, roast the carrots first. For an earthy taste, use a vegetable juicer to juice the carrots raw.

Cucumbers need to be peeled, seeded, and then blended with water or a simple syrup like this one; then, replace about one cup of the liquid with the cucumber purée. If you prefer not to experiment, we have the perfect tried-and-tested recipe for you: Sweet Corn and Thyme Ice Cream. This recipe is sweet and refreshing, with just a hint of savory flavor from the thyme. Vegetable ice cream might just become your new favorite icy-cold after-dinner treat.
 

The accompanying slideshow is provided by fellow The Daily Meal editorial staff member, Milagros Cruz.

Angela Carlos is the Cook Editor at The Daily Meal. Find her on Twitter and tweet @angelaccarlos.