Beet Ice Cream

Author Notes

Store-bought beet juice does all the work here. (You can find it at more and more supermarkets, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. But if you can’t find it, here’s a quickie guide on how to juice without a juicer.) The ice cream’s bright fuchsia color speaks for itself (just look at it!). And the flavor is just as eye-opening—earthy and juicy, but not so vegetal that you forget you’re eating dessert. While corn syrup doesn’t appear in most ice cream ingredient lists, if you ask me, it should. It sidesteps any crystallization, which is a fancy way of saying: Get ready for the creamiest ice cream of your life. (Frozen dessert Genius Max Falkowitz turned me on to this smart technique years ago and it’s been upping my summer game ever since.) Like any other flavor, beet ice cream is very good with hot fudge on top. But it’s just as good with a plop of tangy crème fraîche or sour cream, sweetened with a spoonful of sugar, or not. Assuming this makes you a vegetable ice cream convert (it will!), try these flavors next: carrot and corn. —Emma Laperruque