A Game Changer for Non-Dairy Ice Cream

Over the years I have lost my ability to enjoy regular ice cream. One of the things about 2nd Middle Age is that things we take for granted change and we need to adjust our own expectations in so many ways … including avoiding too much dairy as it becomes harder to digest. This is more common than I realized in 2nd MIddle Age and may also have happened to you.

Living here in Zichron Yaakaov literally two blocks from amazing (conventional) ice cream / gelato doesn’t make that any easier. Even on a Microbiome Diet there are times when ice cream is necessary.

Recently I found a product on the market that makes ice cream FOMO (fear of missing out) a thing of the past. If it is here in a local makolet (mini-market) in my relatively small town, I sincerely hope that you can find it wherever you are reading this.

For me this is no small thing. I will of course share the actual, amazing product – along with a recipe that is working out well for me. But first the back story:

Over the last several years I have tried a lot of non-dairy / vegan ice cream recipes, and they are not all created equal. A lot of them are just meh – either they don’t firm up enough or they are great at first and then get icy in the freezer. (Even “real” ice cream does not always store well – and that has the benefit of dairy fat.) One was so disappointing that I ceremoniously tore up the recipe – mostly to make sure that I never made it again by accident. (I have a lot of recipes and sometimes get confused.)

Some of them, like Fresh Orange “Creamsicle” Ice Cream are dreamy.

A few others also are good enough to share even if they are not perfect, including Vegan Mint Ice Cream

and Vegan Tahini Fudge Ice Cream.

One of the greatest challenges for non-dairy ice cream is the texture. And that is down to the difficulty of achieving the same smoothness in a non-dairy ice cream that comes naturally from use of full fat dairy cream and whole milk in high-quality conventional ice cream. This is where my new favorite product, Flora Plant Double 31% Fat comes into play. (I just caught myself writing “my new best friend” – that’s how good it is.)

Really my only complaint is the name. Something this amazing deserves better, am I right? So for now let’s call it Flora Plant Double Cream.

When you need a non-dairy dessert and nothing but ice cream will satisfy, this is the product that will confuse your friends and confound your frenemies.

And the preparation is simplicity in itself – no soaking cashews, no other unusual ingredients, and no cooking required! My usual MO is to do some online research to find a recipe that I can alter to suit my needs. The Spruce Eats is a wonderful resource, and that is where I found a non-cook, (dairy) ice cream recipe and swapped out/adjusted the ingredients to come up with Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream.

Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened Soy Milk (or any non-dairy alternative you prefer)
1/3 cup coconut sugar or plain sugar
1.5 cups Flora Plant Double Cream
2 tsp. Vanilla

Instructions
1. Stir together the Soy Milk and sugar to dissolve the sugar crystals. Please be patient as you really want to dissolve the sugar before you add everything to the ice cream maker, and this is not a cooked custard. It just takes a few minutes.
2. Add the Flora Plant Double Cream and the Vanilla
3. Pour into ice cream maker (or other container suitable for freezing)

If using an ice cream maker, follow standard instructions for chilling the ice cream.

If not using an ice cream maker, freeze the ice cream for 1 – 2 hours and then stir briefly before returning to the freezer. Repeat this every 1 – 2 hours until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency.

If you want to be really fancy – as my daughter likes to say – when you transfer the ice cream into the storage container you can top it with Vegan Tahini Chocolate Fudge. That is what I like to do. Then when you scoop it out, each serving includes a nice ribbon of chocolate fudge. And if you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still serve the ice cream with the chocolate fudge of course, just don’t put it on to until after the ice cream has frozen.

Here is that recipe:

Vegan Tahini Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
1 cup Tahini
1/2 cup date Syrup (Silan)
1/2 cup coconut sugar (can substitute brown or other sugar)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup water (more as needed) 
1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions
Stir all of the ingredients together, adding the water a few tablespoons at a time to reach a spreading consistency, so that you can pour it over the ice cream without difficulty.

You should have extra Tahini Chololate Fudge left over to put in the refrigerator for later.

Enjoy!