Whenever I buy ice cream from the grocery store, I am so disappointed. Many are way too sweet, have strange additives, etc. Making your own ice cream really doesn't take all that long, you just need to plan a little. The secret to the creaminess of this ice cream is fresh coconut meat from a young Thai coconut. While it may seem daunting to crack a coconut and extract the juices and meat, it's really rather simple after you've done it once. It's one of those things that I get great satisfaction doing. Here's a quick video on how to do it.
This particular ice cream recipe was adapted from "Raw Food for Everyone" by Alyssa Cohen. It's incredibly rich, creamy, and ever so chocolatey. You might also be surprised to learn that it doesn't have a heavy coconut taste. I think the chocolate overpowers the coconut. The next time I make this recipe I'm going to make a fruit version.
One final note: coconut water from a fresh coconut is so much better than the store bought. I don't enjoy drinking pre-packaged coconut water but I can see myself sipping a chilled glass of fresh coconut water.
Ingredients
1 cup cashews
1 cup raw coconut meat
2 cups coconut water*
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
3-4 medjool dates, pitted
24 hours ahead of making ice cream, place ice cream container into freezer to chill.
Crack your coconut according to video instructions. Invert the coconut and drain coconut water into large measuring container. If you get lucky, you will get about 2 cups of water from the coconut. Pry off top of coconut and scrape out the meat. Combine everything in VitaMix blender and blend until completely smooth. It will probably be warm from all the processing. Cool in refrigerator for at least four hours. Process in ice cream maker.
*If you don't get a full 2 cups of liquid from coconut, top off with soy milk, coconut milk or any other non-dairy milk of your choice.
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| This is what young Thai coconuts look like in the store. I like to check the bottom and make sure it looks nice and fresh. |
