August 18, 2010

Berry-licous!

Gingersnap Ice Cream Cups with Fresh Blueberry-Lavender Sauce!


You know the story of the ugly duckling. Well, I would NEVER address my beloved frozen treat as ugly or undesirable...but there ARE ways to make a good thing even better!


Last weekend my family drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway to a place called Graveyard Fields. It is known for kid-friendly hiking trails, waterfalls, and wild berries galore!


Like the little duck swan in the story, the berries were small and unimpressive at first sight but, oh what destiny was hidden within! These berries were exquisite--bright, fragrant, and slightly earthy! It just goes to show, appearance isn't everything! 


Although beauty can be deceiving, there ARE times you want to give plain-jane ingredients a makeover! Here is a quick and simple way to dress up ice cream. Make fresh blueberry-lavender sauce and gingersnap serving cups that are sure to summon oooooohs and ahhhhhs!

Lavender buds from my friend Bonnie @ sweetlifebake.com!

Blueberry-Lavender Sauce for Ice cream


1 lb. fresh blue berries (could use frozen)
1 tsp. dried lavender buds, smashed or ground
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tb. cornstarch
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
A pinch of salt

In a small sauce pan, bring the blueberries, lavender, sugar and cornstarch to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat the stir in lemon juice and a dash of salt.


*This sauce is also great for pancakes, pound cake or cheesecake!


Gingersnap Ice Cream Cups

12 oz. ginger snap cookies, ground (about 2 cups ground)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 1/2 Tb. sugar
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degree F. Grind the cookies in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, place them in a zip bag and roll them with a rolling pin.


Mix in the butter, sugar and salt. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Scoop about 2 Tb. of the mixture into each cup. Use a small cup to press each scoop of mixture, shaping it into a tiny cup. Bake the cups for 12-15 minutes. Allow them to cool, then lift them out with your fingers or a small knife. Makes 10-12.


Place one scoop of ice cream in each cup and top with blueberry-lavender sauce.


This recipe is especially good with vanilla bean, lemon curd, or peach ice cream!



I also made blueberry muffins with these wild berries, using a recipe from my darling friend Laura, at Dark Red Crema. If you haven't visited her site, you should check it out! She has superb taste and amazing camera skills! Her recipe for Lemon Lavender Yogurt Blueberry Muffins is completely brilliant! Prepare to make a them again and again. 

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Blueberry-Lavender Sauce and Gingersnap Ice Cream Cups on Foodista

Around My Family Table

68 comments:

  1. Wow! Love love love this presentation and it's so easy! Great for entertaining :)

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  2. Huh - low spicy - this is one good lookin' I scream cone. Wow. It is almost a sandwich....

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  3. Yummy! I love making ice cream sauces. The ice cream cups are way cool!

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  4. If this isn't the perfect treat, I don't know what is! I haven't used lavender in a recipe before. I love the idea.

    Your children are darling. :)

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  5. I LOVE this idea!!! The gingersnap cup is so inspired and paired with the ice cream it is perfect for summer! :)

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  6. wow,all is amazing ,a beautiful presentation!love it!

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  7. Those gingersnap serving cups are genius, and they're so on my list now! I have some lemon mousse in the freezer just begging to be spooned into those!

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  8. Oh my, this looks so, so, SO good. Love the little cups, perfect presentation!

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  9. Those are some lucky children! I can't get over how COOL this is! And the cups - so simple but fancy.

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  10. These are awesome, Sommer! Of course I love the blueberry lavender sauce, but I am so impressed with the gingersnap ice cream cups - how inventive and the flavors sound perfect with the sauce! ( : XO

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  11. Sommer, where do you come up with these amazing ideas?! I love this!

    I'll definitely have to check that area of the Smoky Mountains out. My kids saw the pictures you posted and asked, "can we go there today mommie?"

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  12. I love the blueberry lavender sauce! The gingersnap ice cream cups are pretty sweet too:-)
    Beautiful photos, I've never been blueberry picking, it looks like fun.

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  13. The gingersnap cups are so cute and I love the lavender in the berry sauce, so delicious!

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  14. Great idea to make these ice cream cups. That would go wonderfully with the apricot ice cream I have in my freezer.

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  15. This looks so tasty! Thanks for including it in the Tip Day Thursday carnival...I would love a link back to the carnival.

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  16. These are absolutely luscious! What a way to serve vanilla ice cream! A beautiful treat!!

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  17. Those little berries made for some great inspiration! Looks like it was a fun day and a delicious dessert. Beautiful photos!

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  18. How wonderful..the ice cream is even better when it is accompanied with a delicious looking gingersnap cup!!

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  19. On my list, LOVE LOVE the cups! super idea

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  20. This looks awesome. I love the sauce, and your idea of the cup. You kids are beautiful.

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  21. wow this is so gourmet love the blue ridge mountains not far from us in Winston salem I bet your kids gobbled this up!

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  22. Oh my this is amazing! I love gingersnaps and can imagine what a fantastic combination of flavors this is. Beautiful pictures as well.

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  23. Looks great and I will try it. Ice cream is my favorite and I love the cups.

    Plan B

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  24. I want to always eat my ice cream in a gingersnap cup from now on. Do you ship?

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  25. When you add fruit to ice cream it makes it healthy right? Beautiful photos!

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  26. Wow Sommer, this looks delicious, and I would not call it ugly either! More like 'yum looking'! Ooh, and a ginger cup sounds out of this world. I'm so glad fall and spice season is almost here. Yeah!

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  27. I LOVE these gingersnap cups! I am totally making these ASAP. Yum! What a great idea - I bet they are good with peach ice cream too.

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  28. Thank you so much for sharing this...I have so many gingersnaps, and I just can't get through them. This looks like a great way to "recycle" them!

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  29. Oh my OH my! The lavender in this sounds fantastic!

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  30. Wow...the gingersnap cups and lavender berry sauce looks so good. Beautiful pictures too!

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  31. Lavender berry sauce sounds heavenly to top all over the ice cream! Awesome clicks!

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  32. holy crap they're like mini ginger ice cream pies- brilliant!

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  33. What a fancy little ice cream dessert! And so scrumptious too with the lovely lavender sauce. The ginger cups just send it over the top!

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  34. Wow, unbelievable looking! Congrats on the Top 9, beautiful photos!

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  35. When a picture makes me go, "Oh my gosh," I know right away I'm going to be printing the recipe. That is amazing. The sauce looks fantastic (and I just happen to have a quart of hand-picked blueberries in the fridge). I LOVE the ginger snap cups. What an incredible idea for any kind of cookie. Thank you so much for passing it along.

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  36. This is the most inviting, tantalizing, gorgeous post. I wish my lavender had buds! The ginger-snap cups really dress this up.

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  37. Sommer - that looks incredible!!! Just the thing for the last of the 10lbs of blueberries we got a couple of weeks ago from MI. And, I think I have some homemade peach ice cream in the freezer. Love the gingersnap cups too. Wonder how they'd be with a vanilla mousse? Or a custard/creme brulee? Great photos too. How much fun was that for your kids :-) A memory they'll always treasure! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Kate (kateiscooking.blogspot.com)

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  38. This looks so good. Love your blog!

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  39. Wow, this looks sinfully delicious! I can almost taste the berries from the pictures alone!

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  40. Very innovative recipe, I love the idea of putting ice cream into little homemade muffin-cookie like cups. And it looks so beautiful and appetizing.

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  41. Loving this treat!! girl...the cups are fab, fab, fab, I must make these asap...and the lavender with berries, brillant...truly stunning, too cool...
    sweetlife
    ps, thanks for the shout out!!love ya girl

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  42. The gingersnap cups are utter genius! I'm totally filing them in my mental rolodex of things to try soon :)

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  43. Oh my that looks so delicious. Eatknitgrow.com

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  44. I absolutely love those ice cream cups!! I will have to try and make those for my girls, they will love them!!! and what a beautiful delicious dessert....i do wish i could try it!! Congrats on the top 9 today, you certainly deserved it!!

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  45. I am going blueberry picking this weekend and now I know one of the ways I will be using them! Plus, those ice cream cups sound great! My husband and I are ice cream addicts so a new way to eat it is always welcomed!

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  46. That looks so good and summery! Why did I never think of gingersnap cups?

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  47. What a beautiful looking dessert...what makes u call it ugly?
    I love the lavender touch..must have made the whole thing aromatic!

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  48. Your ice cream cups are beautiful and with berries, over the top.

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  49. Very nice! Congratulations on the Top 9... This looks extremely tasty. I'm not a huge fan of ginger snaps, but the blueberries look beautiful! I may have to try that.

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  50. What is one stick of butter, 250g?

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  51. Thank guys! This was a big hit at my house!

    I believe 1 stick of butter is 114 grams.

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  52. Those ginger cups look amazing! And I can't believe how simple they were to make. Everything about this dessert is perfection. My family would love it as well!

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  53. Sommer....these cookie cups are so versatile...my mind is spinning ;o)

    Ohhh how I envy your blueberry hunt...looks like a very memorable day ;o)

    I'll have to make these soon. I wonder how well they would freeze?

    Ciao for now and have a wonderful week,
    Claudia

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  54. These look so easy and yummy. Do you think you can freeze the cups?

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  55. What an ingenious combination! I love the gingersnap cups.

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  56. Absolutely berri licious! Lovely clicks.

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  57. I had a blueberry-lavendar torte with ice cream at Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach, SF, and if this is anything like that, I'm in. Blueberry and lavendar are a wonderful combination. Beautiful photos, Sommer!

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  58. Love the lavender and ginger combination and those gingersnap cups look good enough to eat on their own!

    The first photo and the stack of gingersnap cups are gorgeous!

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  59. Blueberries and lavender sounds like a wonderful combination! I never considered making my own ice cream cups, but what a wonderful idea! And I bet your little helpers enjoyed this :)

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  60. This desert loks so delicious and yummy!

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  61. It's just mean for you to post pictures of this in the process of being eaten. Now I know how my dog must feel when she's watching me eat the most delicious thing that ever came out of a kitchen, all the while knowing full and well that she will not be able to have a bite.

    Maybe you can email me a little taste? :D

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  62. Wow, this looks so wonderful! Great pictures. I really like the blueberry and lavender combination.

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  63. OMG this looks so good! And so simple, wonderful idea!

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  64. Your pictures are incredible... I'm actually wiping the drool off my chin (with my elbow) as I type this ;)

    Great blog! Happy I found you!

    Mary xo
    Delightful Bitefuls

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  65. okay, this is just too much.... DIVINE! Glad to find your blog!

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