3 easy vegan ice-cream recipes (no machine needed)
Most people like a tub of ice-cream, but the good brands on sale in England are quite expensive, so it’s a lot cheaper to make your own. These three super-simple recipes (by a talented Aussie chef) don’t even need an ice-cream maker, and use a few affordable everyday ingredients.
Strawberry ice cream (Rainbow Nourishments) contains a whopping 8 cups of fresh strawberries. This recipe is a great way to use up fruit, if you overdid things at the PYO farm.
Before recycling cans (say for coconut milk), rinse then remove lids (pop ring-pulls over holes). Then step on upper cans to ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
Vegan mint choc chip ice cream
Vegan mint choc chip ice cream (Rainbow Nourishments) only needs four ingredients, including vegan condensed milk which you can find in stores these days. A real favourite for many!
2-ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream
This vegan chocolate ice cream (Rainbow Nourishments) is made with dairy-free whipping cream and thick chocolate fudge sauce.
What replaces the dairy in vegan ice cream?
Full-fat coconut milk is the easiest choice, although some people don’t like the strong flavour (it kind of gets hidden for coffee or chocolate ice-cream). You could alternatively use oat cream.
The other alternative is soaked cashews (choose organic versions from Europe to protect bees). This gives a nice creamy base (they are also used for vegan cheesecakes). But they are expensive and you have to remember to soak them first. You’ll also need a powerful blender.
What about frozen bananas? You can freeze ripe sliced bananas on a baking sheet, then pop them in a reusable silicone bag. Then blend into ‘nice cream’.
This doesn’t really taste like ice cream, but it’s nice all the same.
How to store homemade ice cream
Homemade ice cream only lasts a few weeks in the freezer, as it doesn’t contain all the chemical rubbish (like antifreeze) used in major brands. So store with a piece of parchment paper against the surface of the ice cream before putting the lid on. This can help reduce ice crystals forming on top.
To serve, just remove from the freezer and let thaw for 10 to 15 minutes. Dip your ice-cream scoop in hot water to make serving easier.
A book of vegan ice cream recipes
If you want to push the boat out, get a copy of The Vegan Ice Cream Bible. If you’re going down this route, then get a little ice-cream maker (just pour the mix into a chilled bowl and freeze). The unique recipes include :
- Black Forest (the author is German)
- Walnut and maple
- White coffee
- Earl Grey and orange
