No-Churn Peanut Butter Pomegranate Ice Cream

I love simple. There’s an art to subtlety; if something becomes overcomplicated, harder to follow, cluttered, it loses it’s appeal.

In fine art, interior design, graphic design, photography, fashion – even in recipes! – simple is wonderful. Once you pile on too many aspects, layer upon layer, knick knack upon knick knack, ingredient upon ingredient, it can become just too much. Keeping it simple lets the items you do have shine.

As a graphic designer by trade, I find this especially true. Ask any graphic designer and they’ll tell you their one major pet peeve. We all have them, and we’re probably very opinionated about them. Maybe it’s certain colours, maybe it’s Comic Sans. Mine? Negative space! Margins! Never underestimate the power of negative space. I get this all the time, working with clients who want to cram a novel’s worth of information into a small space and fill up every nook and cranny on the page. If you do this, it makes the space cluttered, and there’s just too much to look at. Your eye might scan right over it, or if you’re flipping though a magazine, you’ll just flip the page without a thought. Negative space neatens everything up. It draws your eye to a certain point and makes you want to look at it. 

My point is merely that simple can be good. Not to speak in boring cliches or anything, but there really can be too many cooks in the kitchen. And less really does mean more.

Like today’s post!

A recipe that is simple can mean a couple of things:

– it has a small, easy-to-aquire ingredient list. You won’t have to spend a bucket of cash on fancy ingredients, or spend hours at the grocery store. No need to overload on too many flavours.

– it has a few easy steps to follow. Nothing complicated. 1-2-3 done.

– or, ideally, BOTH.

No-churn ice cream is as easy as it sounds. If you haven’t tried it, do it! It’s basically magic. All you need is heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, a mixer, and a freezer. Then, if you feel adventurous, you can customize with different flavour combinations.

Pomegranates are mostly used in savoury dishes, as a garnish on top of lamb, salads, stews, as they add a wonderful crunch and texture to any dish. Plus, they’re pretty. Like little jewelled, edible nuggets of colour.

I really love using them in sweet dishes, which are sometimes overlooked. They’re naturally sweet and have a strong fruity flavour, so naturally they’re lovely in things like these and these. And in ice cream.

Pomegranates are pretty great when frozen, and they actually taste divine when paired with peanut butter. Kind of like an autumnal PB&J combo, but without the sugary jam.

This ice cream is so easy to make, it’s ridiculous. Whip some heavy cream until soft peaks form. Sir in the sweetened condensed milk. Swirl in a bit of peanut butter, and fresh pomegranate arils, and freeze overnight. The hardest part is just waiting for it to solidify.

Ice cream swirled with peanut butter and pomegranate. What’s not to love?

I find this ice cream rather rich, so a little goes a long way. One scoop is enough to satisfy your craving!

Let’s celebrate simplicity! Less is more. Omnomnom.