I can give up a lot of things. Meat? That one is easy. After all, I was raised as a vegetarian. Junk food? Child's play. I almost never eat anything that comes from a box. Alcohol? Begrudgingly, I can be coerced to avoid even my favorite craft beers. But ice cream? That's a tough one. I really love ice cream. Earlier this year, when I decided to go on a month long cleanse, I was ready to get creative in order to satisfy my ice cream desires.
Inspired by a recent post on The Kitchn, I set to work creating a series of mostly natural, all vegan ice creams. In truth, these are much more like sorbets than ice creams. Though coconut cream does have a good amount of fat, it doesn't impart much fatty flavor, so these "ice creams" are far more icy than they are creamy.
My three experimental flavors were Sweet Almond & Meyer Lemon, Cranberry & Cardamom, and Chamomile & Garden Mint.
The flavors of the juices carry through quite prominently, but they have to compete against the tanginess and aroma of the coconut milk. I found that tart and sweet flavors worked best with this base. Sour flavors weren't as pleasant. Of the three I made, cranberry was my favorite by far. The next time I experiment with this recipe, it will be with other sweet and tart combinations. My mind wanders to blends of orange and carrot, grapes and raspberries, or pineapple and cherry.
The Vegan Ice Cream Experiment has now become one of my favorite cooking classes on ChefHangout.com. In my last session I created my favorite flavor yet, Red Hibiscus and Apricot! My students went for simpler flavors, grape and pink lemonade, both of which were reported to be quite yummy!
How about you? Do you have any experience with alternative ice cream bases? I'd love to hear about them.