Snow Ice Cream

It’s been on my list of things to try for several decades now. Obviously not high enough on the list or I would have tried this earlier. I grew up in South America without seeing snow until I was in my teens and visiting Washington D.C. so anything snow is a bit of a curiosity for me.

We currently have a good 8 inches of snow on top of ice where I live, which means most of us are staying home and safe until this all melts off. Good enough time to try some experiments such as making snow ice cream.

Now as I was photographing the finished product, my handyman walked by and asked if I was sure I had scooped up unsoiled snow. Very funny, I said, that’s snow ice cream made with honey and vanilla giving it that gold tint.

I tried honey with my first snow ice cream, requiring twice the snow. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

I’ve read there are several options for the ice cream sweetener, I chose to use my own honey. Other options are maple syrup and macerated fruit.

I would use whatever you like to eat cold and whatever you have handy.

Snow Ice Cream Recipe

Here’s the first list of possible ingredients:

3/4 cup new snow

1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, macerated fruit

1 teaspoon vanilla

A dab of milk to mix in until creamy.

As a beekeeper, I know the honey will become thick as soon as it is exposed to the cold snow so I ended up using more than twice the suggested snow to try to get it “creamy.”

The honey and vanilla also changed the color profile of the originally-white snow so maybe macerated fruit would be a better visual option.

After mixing the ingredients, I tried it. It takes like one of those summer snow cones with a flavoring added to shaved ice.

Would I do it again?

Probably not, there are much better ways to enjoy the hard-earned honey made by my bees.