Like many committed at-home cooks, I’ve lived through a full-on love affair with Nigella Lawson. It was so long ago, but I remember methodically going through her cookbook and making a new recipe each weekend, as if it was yesterday.
When I think back to that time, one of the recipes that immediately comes to mind is Nigella’s German-American Kuchen (translated as “cake” from German), a breakfast cake with apples, cinnamon, orange zest, and blackberries. Baking it would fill the house with the intoxicating aroma of baked vanilla, spices, and citrus.
In this heat though, we’d much rather eat ice-cream, almost over anything else. So, without any further hesitation, we decided to recreate that kuchen in the form of a nutritious frozen dessert that could possibly be eaten for breakfast, if we so wished.
We really enjoyed the result, it covered all the flavour bases of the original, yet became its very own dish. Imagine a smooth, creamy ice cream, with the unexpected hint of traditional spices and fresh berries.
I had lots of fun making this a swirled ice-cream, my first attempt ever. I got giddy with excitement when my scoop produced these whirled, galaxy-like portions. The spiced apples, used to top the ice cream, also came out sensational. Good enough to be eaten on their own.
My husband proclaimed this frozen kuchen “the best ever,” Paloma licked the bowl clean.
Blackberry Sauce
2 cups fresh blackberries
raw honey or another sweetener of choice – to taste
In a high speed blender, combine the berries with your sweetener of choice. Run the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to discard the seeds.
Kuchen Ice-Cream
2 cups raw cashews – soaked overnight
2 cups meat of fresh young Thai coconut
1 cup freshly squeezed apple juice
3/4 cup agave syrup or another sweetener of choice
zest of 2 oranges
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup coconut oil
In a high-speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Chill well, and process in your ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pour a small amount of ice-cream into a chilled container, then spoon some blackberry sauce on top. Continue with the ice-cream, alternating with layers of blackberry sauce to get a swirled effect when you scoop. Cover the container and freeze for a couple of hours before serving.
Spiced Apples
raw honey mixed with a couple drops of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1-2 apples – thinly sliced
zest of 1 orange
sprinkle of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg – to taste
fresh blackberries – optional
Whisk the vanilla infused honey and orange juice in a small mixing bowl. I didn’t measure the amount of honey precisely, just eyeball it according to the amount of apples you’re using. Mix the apples with orange zest and spices. Pour the honey mixture over, stirring and making sure that all of the apples are coated. Let sit for a couple of hours or while making the ice cream.
Serve the ice-cream with spiced apples, fresh blackberries, and extra blackberry sauce if you prefer.
Marcela says
It looks delicious!
The styling of your pictures is so perfect. I am happy I found your blog!
hearthstrung says
This sounds SO DELICIOUS! Sounds like it lends itself to ice cream very well too. Beautiful!
la domestique says
I’m familiar with Nigella’s Kuchen recipe and I love your creativity in making it into a summer dessert! The swirls are brilliant as well!
Pure2raw Twins says
wow, that looks amazing!!! Beautiful pictures too! I have been craving ice cream lately and this sounds perfect!
VeganLisa says
I totally appreciate your enthusiastic squeal when the scoops turned out with the perfect berry swirl.
What a wonderful summer treat. We’ve had more trouble finding coconut around here lately but I’m heading to Asia in the fall so I will bookmark this beauty to make for my hosts. I know they’ll be impressed. Thank you!
Mary www.MyGreenDiet.com says
Does this get really hard if it sits in the freezer for very long?
Linni33 says
This looks wonderful…I love the domestic goddess too, although her recipes can be a little…too rich, this one is right up my alley though!!
Kelsey (Happyolks) says
Oh my, this looks fabulous. I’ve been experimenting a lot with dairy-free ice creams since investing in an ice cream machine, this one looks like an absolute winner. Do you soak your cashews in the fridge? I’ve heard of some mold issues with these nuts in particular when soaking.
Sarah (Snippets of Thyme) says
I can imagine how exciting it was to scoop out this beautiful ice cream for the first time! Delicious.
Tres Delicious says
This does look delicious. Can’t wait to make it this weekend. Nice blog.
Annick says
amazing, as usual! thank you so much! everything’s perfect! what a dream!
Angela Anderkin says
this is absolutely divine~It brings me such joy to gaze at your miraculous creations~
Golubka says
Thanks so much for your input and kind words, everyone!
Lisa, we’ve had the same sad coconut story happening. A few months ago, they disappeared completely, but recently started popping up again here and there. Where in Asia are you going? Sounds so exciting.
Mary, you know how, with regular store bought ice cream, when you open it first it is perfectly scoopable? But it’s never the same after that and gets really hard. It’s the same story with this ice cream, if you’ve had it in the freezer for a long time, it’s best to let it sit out a bit before serving.
Kelsey, thank you! It’s strange, I’ve never heard or ran into that difficulty before. I always soak cashews in room temperature and they never go moldy.
Sarah, thanks so much. So glad you share my excitement :)
Knife man says
If everyone tasted this, you’d put all the ice cream and frozen yogurt shops out of business. What a great recipe and beautiful photography! You have a very lucky family, not to mention well fed.
Elenore (E) says
Gosh, your photos are seriously stunning! To bad it´s not possible to find young coconuts where I live.. Otherwise I would try the ice cream!
Julie the Alkaline Sister says
Looks and sounds divine! Must try! Love all the spices in this recipe.