Oh hello, summertime. It’s getting hot and I need more ice cream. The perfect combo of strawberry and rhubarb to be exact. And while we’re at it, let’s make it vegan. We’ll use cashew cream in place of heavy cream though, so it’ll still be nice and creamy. You won’t miss a thing, I promise. Since strawberries are at peak ripeness and sweetness, we’ll nix the sugar completely and use dates and a splash of maple syrup to balance the rhubarb. Save that vanilla extract for the cookies, because we’re going to splurge on a real vanilla bean too. It’s all about high-quality ingredients.

I’m way late to the game, but I finally made that two-ingredient “Magic Shell” (chocolate and coconut oil) and (Wow!) I’m a believer. Try it with this strawberry-rhubarb ice cream.

Here’s the Strawberry and Rhubarb are BFFs collage from Instagram. You can find me @julieskitchen and see more of my collages under the hashtag #julieskitchenfoodcollages.

Vegan Roasted Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight

1 vanilla bean, scraped

6 dates, pitted

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 basket of strawberries, hulled

2 stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 tbsp coconut oil

sea salt

Directions

1. In a Vitamix, blend cashews, vanilla bean, dates, maple syrup, and 2 cups of water until smooth. It should be a little thicker than the consistency of heavy cream but runnier than yogurt.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place strawberries and rhubarb on a cookie sheet, in a single layer. Drizzle with coconut oil and a pinch of sea salt. Place in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until caramelized. Let cool.

3. Blend cashew with cream roasted strawberries and rhubarb until smooth. Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed. Chill overnight.

4. Using an ice cream machine, churn for 20-30 minutes. Serve immediately for a soft serve-like texture or freeze and enjoy as desired. Serves 6