It is virtually impossible to forage for wild food in Central Park (see: An Edible Adventure Through Central Park) and not come out inspired. The edible flowers were definitely my favorite part not only because they are such beauties, but I found the complexity of flavors and texture superb. Just be sure to wash them well, they did come from Central Park after all.
The recipe begins by making cashew creme (instructions below) and freezing the creme into ice cubes. This is my base for raw ice cream, from that point you can literally add any flavors you like.
Cashew creme ice cubes
This was the perfect cool and creamy treat after a long day in Central Park. As soon as I shot a few photos I demolished this bowl of goodness.
Scraping the bowl clean
Ingredients
- 1 cup of cashews, soaked in water for 2-3 hours
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of organic frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup of wild flowers, I used Common Blue Violet and Wisteria
- 1/4 cup of raw honey
- 2 tablespoons of raw coconut butter
Instructions
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Blend the soaked cashews and 1 cup of water for 3-4 minutes, until super, super creamy. It will resemble heavy cream, we call it cashew creme.
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Pour cashew creme into ice cube tray and freeze for four hours.
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Add to Vita-Mix; honey, coconut butter, blueberries, wild flowers, and cashew creme ice cubes.
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Blend until it resembles ice cream (about 2-3 minutes) You will have to use the tamper to blend properly. Be careful not to over blend
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Top with scattering of wild flowers and enjoy.
Recipe Notes
Tools
vitamix blender
If you don't have a vita mix you can try using a regular blender and ice cream maker
ice cube tray
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Thanks for an excellent article. A couple of corrections: I’ve been leading foraging tours for 30 years plus 1 day (yesterday was the 30th anniversary of my first tour.) I was arrested by undercover park rangers for eating a dandelion in Central Park in 1986, and the resulting publicity was so great that embarrassed parks officials dropped the charges and hired me to lead foraging tours. I worked with them for 4 years.
I also do private tours, especially with kids. I work with school classes and day camps, and lead birthday party tours as well.
Hope to see you on some more tours!
The recipe looks great.
Have you ever tried making pignola nut cream? I used to use cashews in my vegan ice creams, which aren’t all raw (agar, arrowroot, and lecithin granules are my thickeners, I add grape seed oil, and as a vegan, I use stevia and vegetable glycerin instead of honey), but found pignola nuts to work even better.
It was a pleasure meeting you on my foraging tour. Also, I’m glad you’re still alive!
I’ve never tried with pignola nuts, but I certainly will now. I use stevia for a lot of my recipes, but I just bought this gorgeous raw honey that was begging to be used. To your point though, this recipe is actually no longer vegan with the honey. Oopsie.
Thanks for a great day, I came home with so much inspiration!