Raw Vegan Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

OK. So I couldn’t stand not having any coconut ice cream in the freezer!

Last post I made some raw banana ice cream, after mournfully closing my freezer, having made the sad discovery that there was no coconut meat left! As good as that banana ice cream was, I simply had to grab a couple of cases of Young Thai Coconuts, and spent the whole afternoon smashing coconuts on the deck, and making raw vegan ice cream in various flavours. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Well, the last part that ended with me enjoying two tubs of home made vegan ice cream while watching “Pride and Prejudice”. Jane Austen and a tub of guilt-free raw vanilla ice cream? Does life get any sweeter than that?

I really cannot rave enough about how fantastic this vegan vanilla ice cream is! I wish I could take full credit for the magic. But truthfully, this raw vanilla ice cream is not an original recipe. It differs very little from a lot of raw vegan ice cream recipes readily available out there. This is just the mix that works the best for me, after making countless batches. I have found from experimenting, that I like to hold back on some of the cashews, otherwise it tends to take on more of a leading role, and upstages the fabulous, underappreciated young coconut. But have a taste before you put it in the ice cream maker and see what you think. You can keep tweaking the flavour before you churn.

Once you get past cracking the fresh coconuts and scooping out the flesh, which, honestly, is the most time consuming part of this adventure; the rest is incredibly quick and easy. That is why I like to freeze a ton of coconut meat in sealed bags so I have it ready to make raw vanilla ice cream whenever I want.

This vegan vanilla ice cream recipe is just as easy as the raw banana ice cream. But it does take a little longer until you can devour the fruits of your labor. After putting everything in your Vitamix blender (yes you will need a high speed blender in order to achieve the best results), make sure you have the taste to your satisfaction, and then set the mixture in a bowl in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill. Then churn in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer’s instructions (about half an hour). You can add a tablespoon of coconut butter to the blender mix if you want a creamier, richer ice cream. But I really don’t think it needs it. But I have not eaten conventional dairy ice cream for so many years, so my perspective might be a bit skewed. Although, I have served this raw vanilla ice cream to dairy devotees, not telling them it was vegan, and received rave reviews.

Play around and give this vegan vanilla ice cream recipe a personality of your own. This simple raw vegan recipe makes a fantastic base for all kinds of flavours. Play around, and let me know what you come up with! You can’t really go wrong if you add gradually, and taste as you mix. I have used several ice cream makes to make this and it never really gets much harder than the consistency of thick frozen yoghurt. So I get it to this stage and then freeze before serving it up. Then you get a much harder vegan ice cream that resembles the store bought variety. Having said that -- once you lick the spatula you might decide you can’t wait, and opt for frozen joygurt!

This raw vanilla ice cream is such a fantastic life saver for those people allergic to dairy and soy.

Don’t miss out on making this raw ice cream. It is one of my favourite raw recipes and is seriously special.