Vegan Coconut Ice Cream
By Afton CyrusPublished on December 15, 2021
Time
50 minutes, plus 6 hours chilling and 6 hours freezing
Yield
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We prefer to make this recipe in a canister-style ice cream maker; the ice cream was grainy when made in self-refrigerating models. If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours and preferably for 48 hours before churning. Make sure your blender is only two-thirds full or less, open the lid vent, and hold in place with a dish towel in step 2. Do not use light canned coconut milk in this recipe.
Instructions
- Shake unopened cans of coconut milk to form homogeneous mixture. Whisk ¼ cup coconut milk and cornstarch together in small bowl and set aside. Combine remaining coconut milk, sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking often to dissolve sugar and break up any clumps, until small bubbles form around edge of saucepan and mixture registers 190 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk into coconut milk mixture in pan. Cook, constantly scraping bottom of pan with rubber spatula, until thickened slightly, about 30 seconds.
- Carefully transfer mixture to blender, let cool slightly, about 1 minute, then process on high speed for 1 minute. Pour ice cream base into large bowl and let cool until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. (Alternatively, place bowl over ice bath of 6 cups ice, ½ cup water, and ⅓ cup salt and chill base to 40 degrees, stirring occasionally, about 1½ hours.)
- Whisk chilled ice cream base until recombined and smooth, then transfer to ice cream machine and churn until mixture has consistency of soft-serve ice cream and registers 22 to 23 degrees. Transfer to airtight container, cover, and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve. (Ice cream is best eaten within 2 weeks).
Time
50 minutes, plus 6 hours chilling and 6 hours freezingYield
Makes 1 quartIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Tasters enjoyed the clean coconut flavor and silky texture of canned coconut milk for the base. In addition to sugar, we added corn syrup, which interfered with ice crystal formation. Including cornstarch also prevented ice crystal formation and acted as a stabilizer. But tasters noticed a persistent grainy, starchy texture—and it wasn't caused by the starch. This graininess, as it turned out, came from unemulsified bits of fat. The solution? We blended our hot mixture after cooking, so the fat became fully emulsified. The lightly coconutty base was the perfect backdrop for flavor variations—we liked one version with lime and another horchata-inspired flavor with warm spices.
Before You Begin
We prefer to make this recipe in a canister-style ice cream maker; the ice cream was grainy when made in self-refrigerating models. If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours and preferably for 48 hours before churning. Make sure your blender is only two-thirds full or less, open the lid vent, and hold in place with a dish towel in step 2. Do not use light canned coconut milk in this recipe.
Instructions
- Shake unopened cans of coconut milk to form homogeneous mixture. Whisk ¼ cup coconut milk and cornstarch together in small bowl and set aside. Combine remaining coconut milk, sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking often to dissolve sugar and break up any clumps, until small bubbles form around edge of saucepan and mixture registers 190 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk into coconut milk mixture in pan. Cook, constantly scraping bottom of pan with rubber spatula, until thickened slightly, about 30 seconds.
- Carefully transfer mixture to blender, let cool slightly, about 1 minute, then process on high speed for 1 minute. Pour ice cream base into large bowl and let cool until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. (Alternatively, place bowl over ice bath of 6 cups ice, ½ cup water, and ⅓ cup salt and chill base to 40 degrees, stirring occasionally, about 1½ hours.)
- Whisk chilled ice cream base until recombined and smooth, then transfer to ice cream machine and churn until mixture has consistency of soft-serve ice cream and registers 22 to 23 degrees. Transfer to airtight container, cover, and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve. (Ice cream is best eaten within 2 weeks).
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