Vegan Experiment: White Chocolate Almond Ice Cream (Coconut Milk Base)

My frustrations with soy milk bases drove me to choose another dairy-free option: coconut milk. I had never worked with it before, so while shopping I wasn't sure if I should use pure canned coconut milk or the drinkable coconut milk beverage. I could see the advantages to both:
Canned Coconut Milk: Essentially as pure as I'd be able to get it, naturally thick, cheapcheapcheap
Coconut Milk Drinking Beverage: Closer consistency to real milk, less coconut flavor
So I got both. This is an experiment after-all! After much conversation with folks, I decided on white chocolate-almond as the flavor.

I melted the white chocolate and folded in the canned coconut milk. It still tasted a LOT like coconut so I added another bag of white chocolate. It. Was. GOOP. Slimy, sticky, tasty goop. Goop that refused to freeze. It wasn't til I looked over my equation that I realized what had happened....my white chocolate content was DOUBLE that of my coconut milk! Oh, the embarrassment! AND the frustration! I had finally gotten it to the point where I could actually TASTE the white chocolate! For that reason, I decided to thin it out using the coconut milk beverage. That way I could get it to the proper consistency without compromising the white chocolate-y flavor I was aiming for. The third churn was finally a success resulting in a relatively creamy (yet still mildly ice-y...I blame the drinking beverage) final product.

In the future, I think I will stick with just the canned coconut milk and create a flavor combination that will either a) better mask the coconut flavor or b) compliment the coconuttiness. I have a feeling that if I had used dark chocolate I would not have run into this problem.

Here is the post-goop recipe (with some edits upon taste-test):

White Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

2- 12 oz bags White Chocolate Chunks
2 cans Coconut Milk
1 quart Coconut Milk Drinking Beverage
1/3 cup Agave Nectar
2 c. Toasted Sliced Almonds

In a double boiler, melt white chocolate with agave. Mix in coconut milk and coconut drinking beverage. Cool. Churn. During the last 3 minutes, add the cooled toasted almonds. Freeze until firm and enjoy!

Concept: Chocolate Trail Mix "Gelato"

To start, please vote for my original recipe: Matcha Mint Chocolate Chunk on Foodista. If I get a high enough rating, my recipe will be published in their book. This would be incredible, so I encourage you to please participate and forward the link to your friends. Thanks in advance guys! (Click with button to be directed to the page)

Last week I was given the amazing opportunity to try some free gelato down at OTHERS! Gelato and Coffee in Portland, ME. Those who know me well know that I hope to one day open an ice cream/tea shop...so to see a business who does close to what my dream is (and does it sucessfully) was amazing. The owner took the time to speak with me about his gelato, why he preferred it over the standard ice cream, and gave me some information about emulsifiers. After trying his Nutella Gelato, I practically died inside...the texture was unbelievable, and the flavor was magnificent. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to vote for them as Portland Phoenix's Best Ice Cream Parlor 2010.

With that, I have broken out the ice cream maker and am on my way to churning up some more ice-cream-goodness. I use the terms "Ice Cream" and "Gelato" loosely, because I think that my product is sort of a different beast altogether. At the moment I primarily use soy milk as my base and egg yolks as an emulsifier...this makes the fat content closer to that of gelato, but my lack of actual dairy product sort of throws it into a completely different realm. Ideally, I would like to work with some different emulsifiers and create a variety of all-natural vegan ice creams...but it might be awhile before I try those, and even longer before I have some perfected recipes.

I started thinking about springtime...snow still flurries every once in awhile here, but that hasn't been stopping me from breaking out the winter coat and going for a nice long hike. One great thing about Portland is the numerous amounts of trails, I honestly don't think I could count them all! Looking around my pantry I decided to pay homage to the hiker/backpacker/outdoorsman in all of us (sure, it might be hiding in some of us...but it's there!) and make a Chocolate Trail-Mix "Gelato." The texture isn't as creamy and thick as most kinds of gelato, but it tastes fabulous. The chocolate flavor isn't heavy and overpowering...it tastes more like chocolate milk. Plus, the combination of sweet and salty when you get a piece of dried fruit or nuts is just great. It's like a Rocky Road spin-off with dried fruit and nuts. It is important to rehydrate the fruit in the soy milk before adding it in at the end, otherwise you'll end up with what feel like pebbles all through your ice cream!

Dairy-Free Chocolate Trail Mix "Gelato"

1 quart vanilla soy milk
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup sugar
7 egg yolks
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup shredded coconut (reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish)

Soak raisins and dried cranberries in soy milk. Let set while making the custard. In a double boiler, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, and cocoa powder. Be sure to whisk constantly to ensure that the eggs don't scramble. Heat the mixture to 140* and remove from heat. Add soy milk to mixture and strain. Rinse the rehydrated fruit, and set aside. Churn the chocolate soy milk base until it starts to thicken. Add fruit, nuts, and coconut during the last 5min. Transfer to a freezer proof container and chill until firm. When serving, sprinkle remaining coconut over the top.