In a last, desperate bid to cling to summer, this week we are once again focusing on ice cream.

Portland’s ice cream shops have gotten a lot of attention this year, particularly for their innovative flavors that take liberties with basil, chiles and other ingredients our taste buds aren’t used to experiencing with a mouthful of cold treat.

Hey, kids, now you can try this at home.

Sara Engram and Katie Luber, founders of the Baltimore-based organic spice company the Seasoned Palate, share their recipes for frozen concoctions such as chile-lemongrass ice cream and mango sorbet with cumin and cinnamon in their new book,  “Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Cream and Other Frozen Treats” (Andrews McMeel, $16.99).

Sure, some of the flavor combos sound a little, um, challenging. The pink grapefruit-tarragon sorbet and the chocolate ice cream with cumin and fennel may be acquired tastes. (The authors claim the sorbet makes a great palate cleanser.)

But most of the recipes sound scrumptious. Who wouldn’t want to at least try the brown sugar and spiced banana ice cream, the orange nutmeg ice cream or the coconut-ginger sorbet, one of the many sorbets in the book that are made with coconut milk?

“Spice Dreams” includes recipes for ice cream sandwiches and sundaes, as well as a chapter on syrups, sauces and toppings where you’ll discover the wonder of a caramel sauce made with cloves.

Go ahead, it’s almost fall.

 

– Meredith Goad, Staff Writer