Alright folks, who else has tried to make a vegan dessert in the past unsuccessfully?! I know I have and I am proud to say that this is no flavorless, icy dairy substitute ice cream… it’s the real deal. It’s creamy and totally satisfying. Plus it’s completely dairy free, no eggs! The cool thing about this recipe is that you can add any flavor you want. It’s the beginning of summer and strawberries are bursting with flavor right now so that’s what I chose. But you could easily add in a nut butter and cacao, any type of fruit or just good ol’ vanilla bean.
There’s no secret to this recipe and it’s so easy! We use a full fat coconut milk. I’ve experimented with other alternative milks in the past and (in my opinion), almond, oat or soy just don’t cut it for ice cream. The fattiness from the coconut milk makes it creamy and super yummy. So instead of egg, we used just a tiny bit of corn starch to thicken it up! Because the strawberries are so sweet, I only used a little bit of natural raw cane sugar. And the final ingredient is vanilla bean paste! I always add vanilla paste or extract but I personally like the taste of the vanilla bean paste better. All of these ingredients are from our shop - easy peasy!
Local fresh strawberries are the perfect pairing with the creamy vanilla coconut base. Have you ever had strawberry ice cream with chunks of strawberry that almost get freezer burnt and icy? I wanted to avoid that so instead of just adding chopped strawberries into my base I decided to make a sauce.
To make the base, heat the coconut milk on low/medium heat just until warm (don’t let it come to a boil). Add in the corn starch or arrowroot starch with the sugar and a pinch of salt and cook it on the stovetop stirring until it thickens - almost like a pudding but not quite as thick.
Now for the strawberry sauce! Quarter the strawberries and cook them on the stove on low for a few minutes until they release the juices. I added a squeeze of lemon and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Cook down and stir for about 10 minutes and let cool. Add ingredients to the blender and puree while your base is thickening on the stove.
I have the Cuisinart ice cream maker which I love. It’s easy to use and clean and is fairly quiet. Make sure you place the insert of the ice cream maker in the freezer the night before so its frozen solid. Just pour in your base once it’s cool and start her up!
I slowly added in the strawberry puree into the coconut mixture… if you want it swirled in you could wait until the very end and do it manually as well. I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this vegan ice cream base! It’s the ideal summer entertaining dessert, enjoy!
Ingredients
2 cans of full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup raw sugar or agave
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
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