In the last 20 years, I've eaten a lot of vegan ice cream _ some of it good but much of it bad.
However, I knew great vegan ice cream was possible based on the small miracle that is Trader Joe's brand vegan ice cream. So I set out to find the best recipe for homemade vegan ice cream.
Problem is: I don't cook. I started following a vegan diet (no meat or dairy products) as a teenager. I ate a lot of vegan junk food in college. I would mainly survive on hummus and toast if not for the area's great chefs and my boyfriend, who is a skilled home cook.
So, one might think taking on this vegan ice cream quest was a tad ambitious for someone like me. But I have my lovely cook. I imagined we (OK, he) would make these ice creams and I would photograph them. I bragged: We just need three recipes!
He pored over the books, purchased an ice cream maker and a high-powered blender, and shopped for ingredients. I brought my taste buds (and my camera) to the table.
Along the way, we discovered a few truths about making good homemade vegan ice cream.
First, the foundation has to be a good creamy base, which can be a challenge without dairy products. It can be made with full-fat coconut milk, homemade cashew cream or even frozen bananas.
Second, vegan ice cream can be incredibly expensive to make; vanilla beans and guar gum, a natural thickening agent derived from guar beans to aid in structure and binding, are not cheap.
Third, that Trader Joe's vegan ice cream is a small miracle in both taste and price. It starts at $3.29 for the soy-based ice creams and $3.49 for the coconut-based ice creams.
Based on our trials and errors involving seven batches and five recipes, we came up with three that range from cheap and easy to expensive and challenging _ but all three taste great.
VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPE RATINGS
_ Easy: Chocolate-Banana Ice Cream
Frozen bananas add sweetness and creaminess as the base of this easy blender ice cream. As the authors suggest, go for ripe or overripe bananas for a richer flavor. From "N'Ice Cream: 80 Recipes for Healthy Homemade Vegan Ice Creams" by Virpi Mikkonen and Tuulia Talvio, (Avery, 2016).
_ Medium: Blackberry Coconut Ice Cream
The two cans of full-fat coconut milk help create a creamy custard base. The author suggests the recipe as a good base for trying your own flavors in substitute of the blackberries. From "Food52 Vegan" by Gena Hamshaw, (Ten Speed Press, 2015).
_ Challenging: Vanilla-Basil Ice Cream
Homemade cashew cream and coconut milk serve as the base for this flavorful ice cream. Although the recipe has multiple steps, the nuanced flavors are well worth the work. From "Crossroads" by Tal Ronnen with Serafina Magnussen. (Artisan Books, 2015).
