Blue Skies and Blue Ice Cream - What Summer Fun!

I'm sure many of you will agree that there's no greater pleasure on a warm summer's day than eating a cool, delicious ice cream!

In fact I actually remember many places that I've visited by association with a particular ice cream flavour that I ate whilst there. Here are a couple of examples:

La Rochelle in South West France - a wonderful, medieval French port with a stunning harbour, great restaurants and coffee shops. What do I think of when someone mentions La Rochelle? Pistachio ice cream! Here is the pistachio cone I ate on a visit to La Rochelle some years ago.

Pistachio ice cream cone

Le Puy du Fou in the Vendée - one of the world's best theme parks and it's all based on history. The spectacle at the Roman Amphitheatre is incredible ....

..........  but then so was the ice cream I had there! I queued to get this delicious violet ice cream cone.

Violet ice cream cone

Matching your ice cream to the location

It may sound a little crazy but you can actually go one step further with all of this. You can even  match the colour of your ice cream to your surroundings! I did this recently on a visit to La Flotte on the beautiful Île de Ré. It was a beautiful morning with a glorious, bright blue sky. So I bought a bright blue ice cream!

Can you guess what ice cream it is?
It's a mint flavoured water ice (sorbet) with chocolate chips. Unusual but refreshing!

If I had to pick a favourite it would be the pistachio. Its colour, texture and taste was superb. I even have my own pistachio ice cream recipe which you can try and make at home. You don't have to go to La Rochelle for it!

Eating Blue Ice Cream With A Spoon

Ice cream cones are always a pleasure to eat but the colour you choose can add even greater appeal.

For this cone that I photographed, my husband chose these 3 scoops of ice cream for the combination of taste, texture AND colour. What are they?

Rich chocolate ice cream
Coconut ice cream
Vanilla and almond ice cream (the blue one!)

All of these ice creams were made by our friend Jerome Paradis in France and served by him personally at this ice cream parlour.

Notice the two small plastic spoons in the ice cream? In France this is common as many people prefer to use a spoon rather than risk getting the ice cream all over their face!

Coming shortly on the ice cream recipes website is an exclusive interview with Jerome, one of the finest ice cream makers in SW France.

I have my ow recipes for chocolate ice cream and coconut ice cream if you want to try making some. Just follow the links ... and have fun!