those non dairy imitations? Well I found a recipe for all of us!
This just arrived in my mail box from Sara's Kitchen!
3-Ingredient Healthy Ice Cream makes about 1 pint
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch or tapioca starch (see Note)
1 1/2 cups fruit or vegetable juice, freshly pressed if possible
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch or tapioca starch (see Note)
1 1/2 cups fruit or vegetable juice, freshly pressed if possible
(Pictured Below:beets, a Granny Smith apple for tartness, and celery)
In a medium mixing bowl, stir the tapioca starch with 1/4 cup of the coconut milk until smooth. Set aside. Heat the remaining coconut milk in a small saucepan over low heat until it bubbles around the edges. Whisk the starch mixture into the coconut milk and cook gently over low heat, stirring briskly, until mixture begins to thicken, which will happen quickly. Once it appears to be thickening, remove it immediately from the heat and whisk in the juice. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.
Process in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions. (pictured below apples, pears and ginger)
Note: You can make tapioca starch by grinding instant tapioca in a spice mill or mortar and pestle until powdery.
(pictured below carrots)
Also corn starch and tapioca starch, both worked well. Arrowroot is another option to try. The key with starches is to make sure you cook them a bit to shake off the starchy flavor. Sara also said she used canned coconut milk but I have a healthier version of coconut milk I will add at the end of this post and she also used only fresh fruit and vegetable juices to flavor and sweeten this ice cream adn different juices are going to give you different results in the sweetness of the ice crean. However you can use maple syrup or honey to sweeten it and keep it on the healthy side (what about splenda?) If you want you can always add sugar.
I have to confess, I do have a juicer but my many (failed) attempts to find a juice mix we actually liked always failed and I gave one of them to my daughter and the other one is on the shelf collecting dust and has been there for years, but I am thinking it is time to break out the jars of elderberry juice I have stored for my soon to be jellies! Hey I think I have crab apple also...YUM! I am thinking of all sorts of naturally sweet fruits and hmmm what about pumpkin pie ice cream? This could be fun!
Keeping it Vegan, Fresh Coconut Milk from dried Coconuts:
Okay this is just coincidence but I have a great source of fresh dried organic coconut, which you can get in flakes, chips or shredded, which ever way you like it this stuff is great. Tropical Traditions also offers a recipe for fresh coconut milk you get by processing their coconut...what about coconut ice cream with some of the meat in it! YUM!
And an extra bonus : when you place your first order with Tropical Traditions you get one of their recipe books for free!
Coconut Milk:
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 7/8 cup dry unsweetened shredded coconut
- In a medium-size kettle, heat the water, but do not bring it to a boil.
- Place the coconut in a blender and add 1 cup of the hot water.
- Blend for 2-3 minutes.
- Place a colander in a bowl and line the colander with 4 thicknesses of cheesecloth.
- Pour the blended coconut mixture into the cheesecloth and twist to extract the milk, letting the milk go into the bowl.
- Return the coconut pulp to the blender and add the remaining 1/2 cup of hot water. Blend for 1-2 minutes, strain and press through the cheesecloth into the bowl.
