The seeds from more 120 varieties of Acacia are edible and were traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians -cooked green or dried and milled as a flour for bread. More recently, this bush food has gained popularity due to its high nutritional value, a low glycemic index and nut/coffee/chocolate flavour profile. Often used in breakfast cereals, baking and dairy desserts, I decided to try it in an ice cream. Delicious with chocolate wafers!
To make this ice-cream, measure 2 cups of milk and remove 2 tablespoons to make a slurry with 4 teaspoons of cornflour (cornstarch). In a saucepan bring to boil the remainder of the milk, 1¼ cups of double cream, ⅔ of a cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of corn syrup and ¼ of a cup of ground wattle seed. Allow it to simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cornflour slurry then return to the heat and cook until thickened. Cool the mixture in an ice bath. As wattle seed is ground quite finely, it doesn’t lend itself to straining although it’s a little gritty (like fine coffee grounds). A high speed blender helps reduce this grittiness. With the cooled ice cream mix, add 45g (1½ oz) of cream cheese and ⅛ of a teaspoon each of salt, xanthan gum (optional) and guar gum (optional). Blend until smooth and refrigerate, preferably overnight, before churning. Churn the ice cream and freeze for at least four hours before serving.
michelle picker cooks 