Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Last weekend I went to an amazing food photography and styling workshop in Plymouth, MA (more on that here), yesterday I took the comprehensive exams for my master's program, and somewhere in there I turned 30.

I actually love birthdays (especially mine), and so far I am feeling good about being 30. Ben's birthday is just a week and a half before mine, so we celebrated with a joint make-your-own ice cream sandwich party. It's hard to imagine anything more fun than smooshing ice cream between cookies with your closest friends!

This ice cream was not present at the party because it hadn't occurred to me yet--I was actually inspired to make this because of all the leftover buttermilk I had after making Ben's birthday cake. (He always wants a gluten cake for his big day, and who am I to deny a birthday boy? It's the only glutinous baking I do all year. I made him this chocolate cake and it was fabulous. The only change I made was using avocado oil instead of canola. The avocado oil is tasteless and worked great in the cake!)

For the party I made a classic vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and Nigella Lawson's no-churn coffee ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream maker (or even if you do!) you HAVE to try this no-churn business. I was blown away by the awesome, creamy texture and how easy it was to make. (It is, however, less healthy than what I normally make due to copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Worth it for a special occasion, though!)

Blueberry Avocado Breakfast Cake

Cake for breakfast!  That's what it's all about.  Did you read Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen when you were a kid?  Mickey has to fly all over the city looking for "milk for the morning cake".  I think morning cake is totally legit, and something we should all have more of.



My mom got me a bunch of organic blueberries when they were on crazy sale at Whole Foods.  I came across a recipe for buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake on Alexandra's Kitchen, and really wanted to try it.  Then I remembered (sigh) that the blog and I are supposed to be eating healthy.



So, I decided to try an experiment.  In Gaby Dalkin's book Absolutely Avocados, she has several dessert recipes (brownies, cookies, pound cake) where she substitutes avocado for half the butter.  I wanted to see how that would go in this morning cake.  I also reduced the sugar a bit and added some cinnamon.



The results were wonderful!  I would recommend this to anyone who wants to have their cake (for breakfast) and their avocado, too.

Ingredients (serves 6-8; adapted from this recipe on Alexandra's Kitchen):

1 avocado, peeled and seeded
1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons), at room temperature
Zest of one lime or lemon
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the avocado, butter, lime or lemon zest, and 2/3 cup of sugar.  Cream with a fork or mixer until well-blended.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Toss 1/4 cup of flour with the blueberries.  In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the remaining flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing by hand just until combined.  Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar on top.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

* Make your own buttermilk!  Place 1 tablespoon vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.  Add milk (I used 2%) until it reaches the 1 cup line.  Let sit for five minutes.  Use half your homemade buttermilk in this recipe and save the rest for something else!