Summertime in a bowl! The classic combo of strawberry + rhubarb swirled into frozen fruity ice cream and topped with deconstructed ice cream cone clusters!
I just un-invented the ice cream cone.
Because I’m pretty sure ice cream cones were invented to make ice cream easy to eat on the go without the need for utensils or dishes (although I could be getting my facts mixed up with corn dogs…?) But this recipe reverses all that functionality in the name crunchy toppings. The ice cream cone crunchies on top of this swirly bowl are one of the most scrumptious crunchy things to ever grace my tastebuds and I want to put them on every sweet creamy thing.
But I need to back up a bit from the finishing from the topping to the ice cream underneath. And then even a step further back to the homemade jam swirl. Actually all the way back to my embarrassing rhubarb confession.
This is my first time trying rhubarb.
My family were never fruit pie kind of people, and it can be a slightly intimidating produce item in it’s raw form if you are a newbie. But wouldn’t you know the day I finally decide to give it a shot I could not find the fresh stuff at either of my local stores. Luckily frozen rhubarb is a thing. A thing that’s already pre-sliced and ready to cook, making my first rhubarb cooking experience extra simple.
Whether you are using fresh or frozen, this jam is still simple to make and completely stirring-free. Because I certainly don’t want to stand by the stove and stir anything on a hot day. Unless it’s a coconut milk ice cream base, that would be worth it. But for this jam I chose a more hands off cooking method.
Roasting!
By roasting the rhubarb and berries in the oven, the rhubarb turns soft and the berries so very juicy. Honestly you could just spoon this chunky roasted duo straight from the pan to the ice cream bowl, but the leftovers are much more versatile if you go ahead and blend.
Before roasting I tossed the strawberries and rhubarb with maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla bean powder. After roasting, to keep with the easy jam-making theme, I transferred the steaming contents of that sticky sheet pan to my Vitamix, blended ever so briefly, and voila! Coral-colored, tart-sweet, strawberry rhubarb jam with minimum effort required.
My first impression: wow this stuff is tart! But in combination with the other sweeter ingredients in this strawberry vanilla bean rhubarb jam I do like it. And swirled into ice cream I like it even more.
This jam is quite low in sugar with just a quarter cup of maple syrup to sweeten the entire batch, so it will not last for decades in the fridge like store-bought jars do. Mine is about 10 days old at this point and still delicious, but I would estimate 2-3 weeks max.
Now onto the swirling sundae funday on a monday…
What better way to enjoy the summer vibe of strawberry + rhubarb than swirled into ice cream? Or in this case swirled into nice cream, because it’s easy and instant. Fruit swirled into fruit–nope that doesn’t seem excessive at all. The sweet-tart balance of berries to rhubarb is good, but the SWEET-tart balance of rhubarb swirled into ice cream is even better if you ask my tastebuds.
And now it’s finally time to sprinkle on those glorious cone clusters!
The process for making the clusters is similar to making granola if you were to replace all the usual oats with crushed up ice cream cones. I used my go-to cones because they are vegan and gluten-free and taste just like my most messy childhood ice cream-eating memories. Sugar cones work much better than waffle cones would for this. Their crunchiness only gets better after being crushed into shards, sticky syrup-coated, and baked for a second time into snappy sweet chunks.
Strawberry Rhubarb Swirl Nice Cream with Crunchy Cone Clusters
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Summertime in a bowl! The classic combo of strawberry + rhubarb swirled into frozen fruity ice cream and topped with deconstructed ice cream cone clusters!
Ingredients
Roasted Strawberry Vanilla Rhubarb Jam
- 1 pound strawberries, sliced ((fresh or frozen))
- 1 pound rhubarb, sliced ((I used frozen))
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
Nice Cream
- Frozen bananas ((or vanilla ice cream of choice))
Crunchy Cone Clusters
- 6 sugar cones
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup oat flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- For the jam, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss to every coat.
- Spread onto a lined baking pan.
- Roast for 30-35 mins at 375F. The rhubarb should be very soft and easily pierced with a fork.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a blender and briefly blend to desired level of chunkiness.
- For the cone clusters, crush the ice cream cones into a bowl. Add the flour and maple syrup. Mix to combine.
- Spread onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 mins at 375F or until the edges are just starting to brown.
- Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before breaking apart into chunks.
- Blend the frozen bananas in a high speed blender or food processor until creamy and smooth. Stir in spoonfuls of jam.
- Scoop into bowls, top with cone clusters, and enjoy!
Pin It
