The beginning of July is my favourite time of year in London. Summer has officially arrived, the entire city becomes captivated by Wimbledon and British strawberries are finally in season.

DSC_1359
Between late May and mid July, British strawberries are in their prime. They are vibrant red, juicy and full of flavour, in no way resembling the hard, white centered berries misleadingly labelled strawberries eaten during the winter months.


Strawberries are a nutrient rich fruit packed with immunity boosting vitamin C, with 1 cup containing over 100% of your recommended daily intake. The Vitamin C in strawberries also helps in the production of collagen (bye wrinkles!) as well as protecting the eyes from sun damage and cataracts. If like me, you are constantly battling inflammation and trying to keep your C-reactive protein levels down, then strawberries may just be your knight in shining armour. A recent study found that women who ate at least 16 strawberries per week were 14% less likely to have elevated levels of C-reactive protein, so if you are suffering from arthritis, IBD or any other form of inflammation related illness, it’s time to up your strawberry intake, and I have the perfect recipe to help.


This strawberry ice cream is deliciously smooth and creamy. The soaked cashews act as a thickening agent, and provide no flavour, leaving just the deliciously sweet stewed strawberries to pack each scoop with fruity flavour. Strawberries have a high content of water (92% which is actually the same percentage as watermelon) which causes the ice cream to freeze quite hard, so be sure to remove it from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Take the opportunity to fill your freezer with bags of freshly washed strawberries, while they are in season.  They are great to use all year round in smoothies or ice cream!

If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!

Strawberry Ice Cream

5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Diets Dairy Free, Grain/Gluten Free, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free, Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal, Vegan
Servings 5 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups cashews soaked in water overnight
  • 4 cups chopped strawberries
  • 2 tbsp honey or other liquid sweetener
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
 

  • Place the strawberries in a bowl and mix with the honey and vanilla extract. Cover and allow to macerate for at least 1 hour.
  • Drain the cashews and blend in a blender until smooth, you may need to add a splash of almond milk if the cashews are not breaking down. Continue blending until the mixture is completely smooth.
  • Place the strawberries in the blender and puree.*
  • Pour the mixture into a pre-chilled ice cream maker and use according to the instructions
  • Once the ice cream has finished churning serve immediately or transfer to a container and store in the freezer.

Notes

* In the above photo I pureed the strawberries before adding them to the cashew mixture but this is not necessary
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below and let us know how it was!