A date to remember: The Abu Dhabi ice cream maker turning palm trees into soft serve

In Abu Dhabi, Amira Al Dosari, a 53-year-old ice cream maker, is turning date palm trees into a unique soft serve product. The process begins after the sun sets, with Al Dosari spending up to three hours in the kitchen, preparing and tasting 12 different base flavors before they are transformed into premium soft serve. Her shop, Ice Station, is known for its 145 flavors, many of which are made from ingredients sourced from the date palm tree, an important agricultural export in the UAE.

The idea for this innovative ice cream came after Al Dosari took ice cream-making courses and realized many recipes relied on artificial ingredients, high sugar content, and preservatives. Concerned about the impact of sugar on children's health, she set out to create a sugar-free ice cream that maintained its creamy texture. By experimenting with the softest, ripest stage of the kholas variety of date palm, she discovered the natural sweetness of the fruit could replace artificial sugars.

Al Dosari's dedication to creating sugar-free ice cream has led her to discover that various parts of the date palm tree can be used in her products. Her matcha flavor, for example, uses date palm leaves instead of Japanese green tea powder, providing a caffeine-free alternative. Her daughter, Ghalia Al Mazrouei, a sustainability consultant, has also contributed to the ice cream's recipe, developing a caffeine-free "affogato" using leftover seeds from the dates, brewed into a coffee served over a mound of ice cream.