Coffee & Coconut Ice Cream

Coffee and coconut ice cream has so much possibility! You can Irish it up, add chocolate chips, or even add fruits like rasberries. And am happy to note that this time (third time's the charm!), the ice cream definately felt creamy and not all ice-crystally.

But first, this recipe is dedicated to Tiffany! A while ago, Tiffany commented that she uses coconut milk with her tea. I found that a bit absurd, even suggesting that she use soy milk instead. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. With coffee. Not tea. So, I brewed a strong batch of black coffee, and added a couple of dollops of coconut cream. OH MY GOD - It tastes sooo good!! Now, I've stopped having my daily tea and have coconut cream spiked coffee every day! Everyone should at least try it once - vegan or not.

You should definitely try making a small batch of coconut milk coffee before you attempt making a bigger batch of coconut and coffee icecream. If you like the taste, proceed with the below.

I wanted a bittery coffee taste to my ice cream and so have added just 6 teaspoons of sugar. Do a taste test on your coffee brew and adjust sugar accordingly.

Coffee and Coconut Icecream

Servings: About 6-8 scoops

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons coffee
• 5-6 teaspoons brown sugar

To make:

• Brew a strong batch of black coffee using the coffee powder, sugar and water.
• Let it wittle down to two-thirds of the original batch and then turn off the gas.
• Let the coffee cool down for 10 minutes before stirring in the coconut cream.
• Stir well till the mixture is a nice mocha color and there are no coconut cream floating around undissolved.
• Transfer to a container and freeze -with the lid on -  for a couple of hours.
• After a few hours, break up the ice cream into chunks and blitz the chunks into a mushy liquid in a blender. Refreeze. Repeat this process a couple of times.
• Then let it set one final time.

Coconut & Pomogranate Ice Cream

My last attempt at making ice cream wasn't exactly the most delish ice cream I have ever eaten. In fact, it turned out more like an icy sorbet than a creamy ice cream. Since I do not have an ice cream maker, and will not use either milk or eggs, I shouldn't really ask for any thing other than what I did end up with. Therefore, understandably, I haven't rushed in to make another batch for a long time. Don't get me wrong - It was delish, but just not as creamy as store-bought ice cream.

But then I saw this no churn pomogranate icecream recipe by Nigella Lawson. I had a pomogranate at home. And more importantly, I had a can of coconut cream, that I was dying to dig into. So I did start off with the idea of just making a pomogranate icecream. But, as I added my coconut cream to the pomogranate juice, I really liked the nutty flavor and so, probably, added more coconut cream than I should have. The result is my coconut and pomogranatae no churn, vegan ice cream. No sugar as well. I used maple syrup - which is what turned the ice cream color from a rosy pink to a soft plum color.

Coconut & Pomogranate Ice Cream

Serving: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 large pomogranate (about 2 cups of pomogranate seeds)
• 1 cup coconut cream (more if you're using coconut milk)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 lime

To make:

• Peel the pomogranate to get about 1.5 to 2 cups of pomogranate.
• In a juicer, juice the pomogranate along with the juice of half a lime. Its up to you whether you want to include the pomogranate seeds or discard them. I included them as they're very healthy.
• Tranfer the pomo-lime juice into a bowl. Stir in the maple syrup.
• Add little by little the coconut cream into the mixture, stirring all the while.
• You may also want to transfer this mixture back in a blender and just get some air in by blending for 5-10 minutes.
• Lay the mixture in a tin bowl and put it in the freezer with a lid on.
• After an hour or so of putting the mixture in the freezer, take it off and break the chunks and stir around for some time, and put back in the freezer to reset. Repeat this process a couple more times after an hour or so. Then leave it in the freezer for 4 hours to set one final time.

Vegan Strawberry Sorbet

Strawberries are finally in season!! So, I bought a carton of strawberries and a 200 mils soy milk box to make a frozen strawberry treat. Well, I was going for strawberry ice cream, but it turned out more like a sorbet.

Vegan Strawberry Icecream Sorbet

Servings: 2-3 scoops

Ingredients:

• 12 strawberries
• 75-100 mils of unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tablespoons of organic cane jaggery (replace with brown sugar, if needed)
• Pinch of rock salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon rasberry food coloring

To make:
Freeze the strawberries for a couple of hours in the freezer.

Take them out, thaw them for a while, then roughly chop them.

In a blender, add the strawberries, jaggery, salt, and soy milk.

Blend well for 5-10 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the coloring.

Spread the mixture in a bowl and let it freeze for at least 4 hours in the freezer.

After that, put the solid mixture back in the blender (or stir it up roughly by hands). Put back in the freezer for a couple of hours more for a final freeze.
Garnish with strawberries and serve.