Nectarine and Cardamom Ice Cream

So I'm pretty much making ice cream every weekend now. I'm so glad because I thought my ice cream machine might be one of those appliances that gets lost in the dark depths of the kitchen cupboards, never to be seen again. But no, the results are always so delicious and I guess the hot weather plays its part too.

All the beautiful Summer fruits are in stores now, which gets me so excited! One of my favourites is nectarines. I love peaches, but I squirm just at the thought of that furry skin! The tartness of the nectarines actually make this ice cream taste more like a frozen yoghurt, which was a lovely surprise. I paired it with cardamom and a coconut milk base for a very refreshing frosty dessert.

Ingredients:

1 can light coconut milk
5 nectarines
10 cardamom pods
3 tbs xylitol or vegan friendly sugar

Remove the pip from the nectarines and chop roughly. Extract the seeds from the cardamom pods. I use a pair of scissors to cut the pod length ways and then push the seeds out of each half. Place the coconut milk, cardamom seeds, nectarine flesh and sweetener in a blender and blend til smooth.

Churn for about 20 minutes if you have an ice cream machine. Alternatively, place in a container in the freezer and stir every hour until reaching the desired consistency.

I found that this ice cream froze quite solid (I think it is because it doesn't contain much fat) though it was still okay to scoop because I churned it. As a solution, you could use this recipe in popsicle molds instead.

Enjoy and have fun! xxx

P.S. Follow Miso Coco on social media by clicking the links below :) 

Pomegranate and Strawberry Popsicles

There is a gentle haze in the air that is making me feel nostalgic. It's that Summer heat that reminds me of perfect childhood holidays at the lake. I'm craving the smell of sunscreen, the cool freshness of jumping into the water and of course, ice cream!

Last weekend, while the sun was blazing, I made the popsicles I'd been dreaming up all week. Coconut milk, strawberries and pomegranate, dipped in dark chocolate. I made at least four stops on the way home to find a popsicle mold, but worth the effort it was!

Ingredients:

2 pomegranates
250g fresh strawberries, washed
1 can coconut milk
1 cup xylitol or vegan friendly sugar
100g slab vegan dark chocolate

Slice the pomegranates in half. Keep one half aside for decorating. Remove the seeds from the other three halves and place in a blender. Blend to a fine pulp. Strain the juice into a bowl through a sieve or muslin bag.

After rinsing the blender jug, add the pomegranate juice, coconut milk, strawberries and sugar. Blend until very smooth. Pour into the popsicle mold and freeze overnight.

Note: Depending on how many popsicles your mold makes, you will probably have some mixture left over. My mold only made four, so I had enough mixture left to make two big bowls of ice cream in my churner. If you prefer to make it all into lollies, you may need to do it in batches or buy more than one mold.

Once your lollies are completely frozen, melt your chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water (see how I do it here). Allow the chocolate to cool as much as possible, without hardening again.

Unfortunately it's not quite as easy as simply dipping the lollies into the chocolate, as it tends to slide off. I used a teaspoon to pour chocolate over the top of each one and kind of had to smear to get it to stick. I then dipped it into the remaining pomegranate seeds, which also was a little tricky but a fun experiment!

Eat straight away or pop them back in the freezer on a plate for later (as if!). Enjoy! xxx

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Last Tuesday I lay awake in bed, way past my bedtime, dreaming of making vegan ice cream. I have wanted an ice cream maker for the longest time, so decided in my half dazed state that I would have one before the end of the week. I reached for my phone and, squinting, placed my order and rolled over to sleep. I collected my Krupps ice cream machine on Friday afternoon and have been grinning like a kid with a new pony all weekend.

So, to Christen my new appliance I decided to recreate my all time favourite flavour, Salted Caramel, using dates, coconut milk and Himalayan salt. The result was positively addictive and we have been sticking our heads in the freezer for a sneaky spoonful just about every hour!

Ingredients:

1 can light coconut milk
400ml soy milk
1 cup dates
2 tbs corn flour
2 tbs soya lecithin
1/2 cup xylitol or brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 level tsp Himalayan salt (add more after tasting if necessary)

*Note: I have used one part light coconut milk and one part soy milk to keep the calories down. For a richer, creamier ice cream use two cans of full fat coconut milk instead.

If you are using an ice cream machine, pre-freeze the bowl for 24 hours.

In your measuring cup, soak the dates in boiling water for about 5 minutes so that they soften. Drain and place in a medium pot, along with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Heat the mixture, but don't allow it to boil, and stir continuously until it thickens to a creamy sauce consistency (note, at this point, this recipe can also be used as a hot caramel sauce, perhaps to use over future vanilla ice cream recipes).

Remove the pot from the heat and when completely cool, place in the fridge until chilled. Pour the batter into the ice cream maker and churn for 30-40 minutes. At this stage the ice cream will be a soft serve consistency, ready to be eaten immediately. If somehow you don't eat it all in one sitting, the rest will freeze nicely and still be perfectly scoopable.

If you are not using an ice cream machine, place the chilled mixture in the freezer and stir thoroughly every hour or two until it is frozen. It should retain its softness, but if not leave it out of the freezer for about 15 minutes before scooping. 

Serve with fresh strawberries, or with bananas and whipped non-dairy cream for a frozen banoffie pie dessert!

Makes approximately a litre of ice cream.

Vegan Banana Ice Cream

So I recently discovered the magical ingredient that is Aquafaba, which is the brine from a can of white beans, or most commonly chick peas. It is used as an egg substitute for a number of vegan recipes including meringue, nougat, marshmallows, mayonnaise etc., and I've been itching to try it out.

When beaten, the brine turns into a beautifully peaky fluff which is quite yummy just with the sugar and vanilla essence - almost like a marshmallow spread.

Ingredients:

1 can chick peas, brine drained into a mixing bowl
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 large bananas

Drain the chick pea liquid into a mixing bowl and use a beater to mix on medium speed until it forms firm peaks (as you would for meringues).  Pulse the castor sugar in a blender to make it finer. You can also use icing sugar, just be sure that it doesn't contain corn flour. Slowly add the sugar in while continuing to mix and if the mixture becomes slightly more liquid, beat until it is firm again. In a separate bowl, mash the two bananas with a fork until they are quite smooth. Add the vanilla essence and bananas to the fluffy mix and fold in evenly.

Place the ice cream in a container and freeze for approx. 6-8 hours, stirring gently every two hours or so to keep the banana bits from sinking.

We ate all of it as soon as it was frozen, so I can't actually say whether it freezes solid if you leave it for too long. Either way, if you let it thaw a little it should be fine (but you'll probably eat it all before then anyway). 

Yum! xx