Moroccan Honey Nut

Ras el hanout–every Moroccan spice blender’s best effort–comes in as many variations as ice cream itself, but one thing every mixture has in common is the whole being more than the sum of its parts. No single spice sticks out; instead you’re beckoned to follow the flavors along as they unfold, getting a hint of cardamom here, a wisp of ginger there. Experiencing it is very literally the olfactory and flavor equivalent of walking through the souks–the vast, winding markets–of Marrakech or Fez, where currents of spices sigh through the smoke of a thousand cooking fires.

This is the basis of our Moroccan Honey Nut ice cream. Almonds, a staple nut in the Moroccan diet, are folded in along with honey, itself an homage to the sweetness that is common throughout the country’s cuisine. The hidden gem tying everything together is orange flower water. Florals tend to overwhelm if used in excess, and here we’ve gone in the opposite direction: indeed the flavor here is so subtle that you may not taste it on its own, but it adds that certain something that makes this delicious ice cream a unified whole.

In the spirit of the blended spice becoming its own flavor, we love Moroccan Honey Nut after any cuisine featuring blended spices: Moroccan, certainly, but also Indian or even Chinese. There is almost always some ingredient that overlaps, and their nuances follow through on one another for a perfectly cohesive segue.

For a dessert snack, pair this with plain sugar cookies so the subtlety and magic of the flavors shine through. (And if you’re feeling bolder, make some ras el hanout sugar and roll your cookie dough in that!)