Chocolate Malt Ice Cream

This ice cream is super smooth and creamy with the addition of fresh coconut meat. I really enjoy it without all that extra sugar that store-bought ice cream seems to have. The last container of Vanilla Rice Dream I bought, I ended up tossing. It was just too sweet.

I have to admit that the ingredients for this ice cream are not everyday items in your refrigerator or kitchen cupboards. But this is such a delicious, creamy ice cream that it is totally worth it to search them out and learn new techniques – like opening a young coconut. Once you do it, you will see that it is very easy and rather gratifying. When you make this recipe, don't get too hung up on quantities. Just use whatever meat and water that you get from the coconut. If you don't get a full cup of either the water or meat, that's okay. You can top off the coconut water with non-dairy milk. I've made this recipe twice and each time I got one cup of water and meat from the coconut.

The maca powder is considered a "super food." You can find it online at Amazon or at a natural food store. You could probably substitute the maca powder with malt powder but it just so happened that I had some maca powder that I use for my smoothies.

Ingredients
1 cup cashews, soaked overnight and drained
1 cup fresh coconut meat, chopped
1 cup coconut water (from the coconut)
1 cup non-dairy milk
2 TB maca powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup plus 2 TB cocoa powder

Directions
Combine ingredients in VitaMix or other high powdered blender. Blend until smooth. Chill for 24 hours and process in ice cream maker.

Young Thai coconut.

Creamy Delicious Chocolate Ice Cream - Is the Search Over for Vegan Ice Cream?

I've dinked around here and there looking for a great chocolate vegan "ice cream." Most taste pretty good when fresh but after they've sat in the freezer for over 24 hours they're hard as a rock. This recipe is fairly easy to scoop but you still need to let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so after it's been frozen. The original recipe in Veganomicon uses coconut "cream" and is incredibly rich and creamy. I have no idea how many fat grams and calories are involved but too many for me. I have reworked that recipe with light coconut milk so I can enjoy it with a little less guilt! Don't be alarmed by the use of coconut milk - it just adds to the creaminess and won't taste of coconut. Four stars - I will definitely make this again. If you have access to a copy of Veganomicon I'd save the original recipe for special occasions and vegan skeptics! It's pretty incredible.

Note: This recipe requires an ice cream maker.

Ingredients
6 ounces quality bittersweet vegan chocolate
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1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
6 ounces silken tofu (boxed)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions
Melt chocolate in double boiler and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Place coconut milk, soy milk, sugar, tofu, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate into blender. Blend until smooth. Put in a container and place in refrigerator until well chilled or overnight. Be sure that the freezer container for the ice cream maker is in the freezer. Next day, make ice cream according to your ice cream maker.

There will be leftover coconut milk that you can use in a nice curry.

Vegan "Ice Cream"

I am bound and determined to quit buying store brands of "ice cream." However, I still haven't found that perfect recipe. So far, I've tried the Chocolate Ice Cream from the book "Raw for Dessert" by Jennifer Cornbleet. (I didn't even KNOW about raw desserts but we'll save that for another day!) The ice creams from that book basically use almond milk, soaked and blended cashews, cocoa power and agave syrup. The result is a very wonderful chocolate flavor but I didn't think it was creamy enough. And rock hard after sitting in the freezer.

So - on to "The Vegan Scoop" by Wheeler Del Toro. His whole take is to use soy creamer in the recipes. I made the chocolate ice cream which uses soy milk, soy creamer, cocoa powder, sugar, and chocolate chips. I was underwhelmed. It was creamy but too sweet and not enough chocolate flavor. Next time I'm going to use less sugar and use a "good" dark chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips.

LATER
Modified the chocolate ice cream recipe that uses soy milk and soy creamer. This time I did in fact use 4 ounces of 60% dark chocolate and 1/8 ounce of 85% dark chocolate that I happened to have on hand. I also used 1/2 cup agave syrup instead of 3/4 cup sugar. What a difference! Creamy with intense chocolate flavor. My only critical comment was a slight "dustiness" in the flavor that I imagine is from the cocoa. I just used regular supermarket cocoa, maybe next time I'll use a more "high end" cocoa. But really, this ice cream turned out just great!

Here is the modified recipe:

Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 cups soy creamer
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 ounces 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate
1/8 ounce 85% cacao bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Mix 1/4 cup soy milk and arrowroot in small bowl. Stir well and set aside.

Mix soy creamer, 3/4 cup soy milk, agave syrup, cocoa powder, and chocolate bar (break into chunks) in sauce pan. Stir continously over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Take off heat, give the arrowroot mixture a stir (tends to get thick just sitting around!) and add to chocolate mixture. Add vanilla extract. Should be thick. Put in bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Process in ice cream maker and enjoy!