Ginger Cantaloupe Ice Cream

I was at the grocery store last week and they had these HUGE locally grown cantaloupe … my daughter had been staying with her grandparents for the week and would be coming home soon and she loves cantaloupe, so I bought one, brought it home, cut it up, and had this gargantuan tub of pretty orange cantaloupe chunks in my fridge to greet her upon her return.

She was quite pleased to see it and munched away at her cantaloupe. But, well, it was a HUGE cantaloupe and she didn’t make much of a dent in the big tub at her first munching. I expected she would have more later, but she didn’t. A day passed, then another, and she didn’t touch the cantaloupe, though I asked her if she would.

It became clear to me that I need another solution for using up this cantaloupe. I had seen a cantaloupe sorbet that was quite beautiful … I briefly considered that, then thought, no, I want something more creamy. With ginger. Yes! Ginger would be perfect with cantaloupe.

So this ginger cantaloupe ice cream is what I came up with. It’s quite healthy for you with loads of vitamins from the cantaloupe plus ginger is so good for the sinuses and digestion … but the most important thing is it’s totally delicious. The ginger is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet mellow cantaloupe flavor and I really like the cream taste and the hint of rum.

Even after making this, though, I still have a big pile of cantaloupe pieces in my fridge. Would anyone like some cantaloupe?

Ginger Cantaloupe Ice Cream

• 1 cup fat free half and half
• 1 egg
• 2 thin slices of fresh ginger root
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 cups of cubed cantaloupe
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup whipping cream (I used 1/4 cup to keep my ice cream low in fat, but if you want it extra-creamy, add a little more)
• 1/4 cup golden rum (optional, but it helps the ice cream from freezing too hard and adds a nice flavor … if you want the rum flavor without the alcohol, use 1 teaspoon of rum extract)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, stir together 1 cup of the fat free half & half with the sugar and cook over medium heat just until hot. While the milk and sugar are cooking, in a small mixing bowl, beat the egg till it is fluffy and a consistent yellow (that is, no blobs of egg white floating about).
2. In a slow stream, add about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg, whisking or beating constantly as you do. Beat it a little more just for spite, then add it back into the saucepan in a thin stream (while whisking) and heat at medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
3. Blend the cantaloupe, vanilla, ground ginger, and whipping cream in a blender until smooth. Mix the cantaloupe mixture with the cream mixture, pour into a jar, cover and refrigerate until it’s nice and cold.
4. Just before freezing, add the rum and shake it well (or stir), and pull out the two ginger root slices. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Eat it straight away, or put it in the freezer for an hour or two to firm up a bit more. Either way, it’s lovely.

This recipe was shared at Cast Party Wednesday, Thursday’s Treasures, Tastetastic Thursday, Foodie Friends Friday and Fit & Fabulous Fridays.