I’ll be the first to admit it… my ice cream didn’t turn out very creamy at all. I was going for more of a gelato consistency, but I think that’s hard to do without dairy and with my crappy ice cream maker. I wanted so bad to love my ice cream maker, but it has really turned out to be a pain in my neck. I’ll be selling it on Craigslist soon, but if anyone is interested in buying a barely used Cuisinart Mix-It-In Soft Serve Maker for $25, let me know. It has slight damage on the top from me putting it in the dishwasher (it melted in one spot), but that doesn’t effect the mechanics of it at all. Works great, just not the right fit for me.

Back to the ice cream. So, as I said, I was going for a gelato consistency, but did not achieve it here. It turned out more like a granita because I ended up doing most of the freezing in the freezer and the ice crystals got too big. The flavor was excellent, but I will scale back on the water next time and add in more MimicCreme. If you are interested in trying this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you. One note: if you are using fresh, sweet, in-season peaches (as I did here), you could probably cut back on the sugar by half. If found my finished product to be slightly too sweet for my taste.

Peach Could-Be-Creamier Ice Cream

2 cups fresh peaches, pureed (about 3-4 large peaches)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup organic sugar

2 cups water

1 cup MimicCreme

Puree the peaches and add the lemon juice. In a small pot, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to a boil. Set aside and allow to cool. Mix together the syrup and the peaches. Add the MimicCreme and chill in the fridge for several hours. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufactures instructions.

Oh woweee! Hold on to your socks… this ice cream is about to knock ‘em off.

So, my loyal readers (are there any??? please, guys, let me know you’re out there!) know that I am now in love with a product called MimicCreme. It’s a non-dairy cream substitute made from cashews and almonds and it’s SO AWESOME! I wrote to the manufacturer to tell them how much I love it and to find out when/if we we will be seeing it in more stores on the west coast. They responded saying that it should happen by the end of summer, if not sooner, so that is excellent news for those of us who want to make delicious non-dairy ice cream (and other creamy concoctions).

I digress… back to the recipe. I had an open carton in my fridge and I’ve been meaning to use it up in a coffee ice cream recipe. Even though I quit the liquid form (of coffee, that is), I do love coffee in the frozen form (it’s my absolute favorite ice cream) and I couldn’t wait to make some today. I’m not an ice cream person per se, but I really can’t resist coffee ice cream, hence the name of my recipe- it’s my one ice cream vice. And, just to make it even more delectable, I added in a few shots of kahlua. For those of you who live close enough, swing by for a free sample. You’ll run home and make a big batch of it for yourself after you taste it. Emma even loved it, but I was careful to only give her a little bit for obvious reasons.

Kahlua Coffee Vice Cream

4 cups MimicCreme (unsweetened)- henceforth referred to as MC

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 TB instant coffee

1/3 cup kahlua

2 TB arrowroot

1 tsp vanilla

Put the arrowroot in a small bowl and whisk in enough MC to dissolve (probably about 1/4 cup will do it). Add this, plus one cup of MC to a small pot and heat over medium low heat. Add both sugars, the instant coffee and the kahlua and bring to a bubble. Put the rest of the MC into a large bowl with the vanilla, and add the hot MC mixture once it has boiled. Whisk to combine everything. Chill the vice cream mixture in the fridge for several hours (or in the freezer for about an hour). Pour into your ice cream maker and let ‘er rip, per the manufacturers instructions.

I am not much of an ice cream person, but I do occasionally enjoy eating Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. It’s a tasty blend of cherry flavored ice cream (or frozen yogurt) and cherry and chocolate chunks mixed in. So good, but definitely not vegan and probably not very good for me. I’ve really been thinking hard lately about a good way to veganize an ice cream recipe without using a ton of soy creamer or soy milk. The yucky aftertaste of soy creamer was one of the reasons I was able to give up coffee to easily, and I wanted to come up with a creamy alternative that would give the ice “cream” the richness that a dairy ice cream has.

The other morning, I was flipping through my copy of The Joy of Vegan Baking on an unrelated recipe hunt when I happened to came across a recipe for a sweet cashew cream. The recipe reminded me of the cashew cheese recipe and I thought that it would be the perfect substitute that I’ve been looking for. Without further ado, my sous chef (see photo- she’s stirring the ice “cream” while it cooks) and I got down to business. Our ice “cream” turned out really good; although, the texture of the cashew cream made it slightly gritty. I really did my best to puree the cashews as smooth as possible, but I think I will strain it next time to remove the remaining cashew bits. All in all, I’m very pleased with how this turned out and I’m looking forward to trying it out with other flavors.

Chocolate Cherry Ice “Cream”

1 recipe cashew cream ( from The Joy of Vegan Baking)

2 cups frozen sweet cherries, whole

1 cup turbinado sugar

pinch salt

2 cups rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1 tsp vanilla

2 TB arrowroot

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Puree half of the cherries until smooth in a food processor. Remove and set aside. Use the food processor to coarsely chop the rest of the cherries. Remove and return to the freezer. In a medium sauce pan, combine the rice milk, sugar, salt. In a small bowl, dissolve the arrowroot powder with about 1/4 cup of the rice milk. Add this slurry mixture to the sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens, stirring constantly. When the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat and add the cherry puree and the cashew cream. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. When the mixture is cold, add it to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions. When the ice cream is thick and frozen (but not too firm), add the chopped cherries and chocolate chips. Continue to churn until the desired consistency is reached.