Strawberry Sauce

I bought a half-flat of strawberries a few days ago. They were beautiful--deep red and perfectly ripe. And then I started eating them. Such a disappointment! I'd say that three of every four were either bland or downright sour. But the sweet ones were little punches of happiness. Still, it wasn't worth plowing through the sour berries for the occasional sweet one.

The solution? Strawberry sauce! Cooking the strawberries and adding a little sugar turns even bland and/or sour berries into something wonderful. The recipe measurements are very forgiving--it's really one of those "a bit of this" and "a pinch of that" compositions. But here's what I did:

3 cups strawberries, trimmed and halved (or quartered, if you prefer)
2 tablespoons sugar or agave syrup (I used sugar)
a splash of lemon juice
a pinch of salt (to enhance the sweetness)

Put all ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat. Cook until the strawberries start to fall apart and everything is a big, bubbling mess. Taste for sweetness. If needed, continue simmering until the sauce is reduced to your preferred thickness.

Done! You can refrigerate it and serve over ice cream. Pour it over shortcake or a big slice of vegan cheesecake. Or, following my example, you can eat it straight out of the sauce pan with a giant spoon.

Wow! Another dairy-free ice cream cookbook!

Vegan ice cream recipes are popping up all over the place. I just found out about yet another dairy-free ice cream cookbook, this one published at the end of last year. I don't yet have a copy, but it looks interesting.

The Ice Dream Cookbook says it contains "dairy-free ice cream alternatives, with gluten-free cookies, compotes and sauces."

I don't know much else about the book. One review on Amazon states: "The Ice Dream Cookbook also focuses on low glycemic, using a combination of agave nectar and stevia in most of the 'ice cream' recipes. As best as I can tell, this is also a soy-free cookbook; the 'ice creams' are primarily coconut milk or nut-based. All of the recipes are vegan-friendly, but I would like to note that there are choices given, such as honey or agave and gelatin or agar agar."

This sounds like it could be a winner for those with gluten allergies and those who are looking to avoid using cane sugar. And there are suggestions for stevia, which is great because I get these questions all the time and I have no idea what to do with stevia. (My husband hates it and I'm none too fond either.)

Sadly, the cookbook isn't all vegan--see the note about honey and gelatin above--but we vegans are nothing if not creative, and it appears that you can work around any non-vegan suggestions. I should also note that the author is clearly not vegan (her blog has all the typical bullshit about the wonders of grass-feed meat). And I always prefer to support fellow vegans when I spend my money, so I'm not sure if I'll buy this book.

But, wow. I'm so excited that there are more and more vegan/dairy-free ice cream products--from hemp ice creams to cookbooks to new dreamy flavors in the supermarket.

Now if I can just get my butt in the kitchen and actually make some ice cream, that would be even better.

Another vegan ice cream cookbook

OK, so I don't yet own a copy of The Vegan Scoop. But since I just reviewed Lick It, I figured I should note that there's another new vegan ice cream book out on the market!

And with a much better title. Because it doesn't make me think dirty, dirty thoughts.

How do the two rivals compare? Can't tell you (yet), but I'm excited. Add these two to Vice Cream, and we've got a slowly growing canon of recipes.

A few people have asked me why I haven't written The Great Vegan Ice Cream Cookbook. Because, you know, I'm pretty awesome and who wouldn't buy my book? Right? So I like to claim that I'm all about new media, the democratization of information, the power of freely shared ideas. But, really, the truth is that I'm lazy (and more recently have been stuck with Lyme disease), and I'm more than happy to leave the real work to others.

Anyway, I'm psyched to check out The Vegan Scoop. And I'd also love to hear what you, my beloved readers, have to say! What do you think of our growing collection of vegan ice cream books? Hungry vegans want to know!

Lick It! (A Review)

A new vegan ice cream cookbook is on the market! Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love, by Cathe Olson, is sitting here on my desk. Overall, I recommend the book, but I'll go into the positives and negatives:

Positives: The first thing I noticed that I know many readers will love is that nearly all of the recipes can be made with agave syrup instead of sugar. I've been asked many times about using non-sugar sweeteners, and this book has plenty of options. In most cases, you can use an equal amount of granulated sugar or agave syrup.

There are also lower-fat options, alongside the really decadent recipes. And a bunch of sorbet recipes, which I have to say are going to tempt me away from ice cream for a little while. So you've got ice creams, frozen yogurts, sherbets, and sorbets.

And the book also has recipes for ice cream cakes, ice pops, and other frozen treats. Plus recipes for sundae toppings. I am particularly happy about the butterscotch sauce recipe. Mmmmm...butterscotch.

Yeah, so all the recipes look amazing and you could spend all summer making a wide variety of frozen yummies. This book will rock you.

Negatives: I feel so nitpicky with my list of negatives. But I want to get them out of the way. The most unfortunate thing about the book is the design. There are stock photos all through the book, as well as on the cover. The pictures of coconuts or coffee beans are fine, but the pictures of happy people eating ice cream are just...meh. They look kind of goofy and somehow already dated, even though the book just came out.

And the title. Lick It! I mean, maybe I'm the only person with a filthy, filthy mind, but ice cream isn't the first thing that pops into my head when I hear "Lick it!"

Finally, I'm not a fan of the shades-of-purple interior design--text, pictures, etc. It's just not very attractive.

The verdict: All of the negative things I have to say about this book are cosmetic. Which makes me a shallow husk of a person, I suppose, and one with a filthy mind. But I can look past the cover (maybe slap a book cover on it) and re-label the title (something like, "Vegan Ice Cream That Doesn't Remind You of Oral Sex in Any Way, Thank You"). Because the recipes are gonna rock you. Your (my) filthy mind will be so distracted by the (potentially orgasmic) recipes that you won't even think of other, more adult pleasures. Despite the title, which I really must cover up.

Stop thinking about the title. Think about the recipes! The glorious plenitude of recipes!!!

So despite my filthy mind and nitpicky habits, I heartily recommend Lick It! It's here just in time for summer.

Peanut Butter Pillows

I've not been feeling well enough to whip up new ice cream flavors, but today I decided that I had to try the Peanut Butter Pillows recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen blog.

It's basically peanut butter fudge wrapped in a thin layer of chocolate cookie dough and baked until the dough is just firm enough to handle. And then you take them out of the oven and shove them in your mouth and they're all melty and gooey and ZOMG you just want to die right there because nothing in your life will ever be better than that moment right there. But then you take another bite, and OMG it's still amazing.

(Photo from the PPK blog/Flickr pool. Their pictures are prettier than mine.)

Apple Crumble Ice Cream

One of my all-time favorite desserts is Annie's Apple Crumble, so named because a wonderful lady named Annie shared her recipe with me. This particular apple crumble is always a huge hit at potlucks. My husband likes it best when served with a scoop of ice cream. So tonight, with an apple crumble baking in the oven, I thought...why not mix them together? Genius! (And the best part is that you only need part of the apple crumble for the ice cream, so you will have more crumble leftover!)

First, the apple crumble recipe. Then the genius mash up.

Annie's Apple Crumble

5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced approx. 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
1 cup sugar, divided into two ½ cups
½ cup flour
½ cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
½ cup vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place the apples in a lightly oiled 8 x 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking dish. Sprinkle ½ cup sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the apples are baking, make the crumble topping. Mix the flour, remaining ½ cup sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Cut the margarine into small pieces and mash it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers. The mixture will be crumbly and coarse.

When the first 10 minutes of baking are over, spread/sprinkle the topping over the apples. Bake (still at 350) for another 30 – 35 minutes, or until the topping is golden.

Ice Cream

2 cups soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 cups soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
dash nutmeg
2 tablespoons arrowroot
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup Annie's apple crumble, with the apple bit kind of chopped a little so it'll mix in easier

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Meanwhile, take your apple crumble--be sure it's not hot anymore!--and scoop out about 1 cup. If there are any large apple slices, cut them up a little so they will mix more easily into the ice cream. Break up the crumble topping if it's baked into a solid mass. The goal will be to spread the crumble bits throughout your ice cream base.

Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the apple crumble in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

All I Want for Christmas

Cross-posted from my other blog:

One of the most challenging aspects of being sick has been that I can't do all--or even a fraction--of the things I used to do. Some things I miss are small, like burlesque dance classes or trying new cookie recipes. Other things are much larger, and the one thing I most want to do again is leaflet for Vegan Outreach.

I'm an activist. But the key component there is "active." And I just can't be active the way I want to be. Back in 2003, when I realized that my calling was animal rights activism, I had this light bulb moment--this is what I'm supposed to do during my time on this planet. It was a moment of absolute clarity of purpose.

When I started volunteering for Vegan Outreach, I found what I believe to be the single most effective way to channel my activist energy. I leafleted schools in Arizona, and when we moved to California, I jumped in with both feet. I leafleted across the Bay Area, and I'd go on road trips to Southern California to leaflet schools in San Diego and Orange County. All told, I've handed out over 54,000 Vegan Outreach booklets on college campuses.

In the past year, I've handed out zero booklets. I've simply been too sick get out into the field. Which is where I know I belong. But I can't do it right now.

Which is where you come in. Yes, you, dear reader! Because Vegan Outreach doesn't run on energy alone. We've got the most amazing staff and group of volunteers, and our outreach efforts have been massively successful. In the fall semester of 2008, we reached over 130,000 more students than we did in the spring semester. And while we couldn't do this without the energy of our members, we also couldn't do it without financial support.

As you know, I'm on the VO board of directors, and I get the financial reports. I can tell you that we don't waste money. Our paid staff members take exceedingly modest salaries, so that the money donated can be used for our stated purpose: to decrease suffering.

Every Christmas Nick and I ask for donations to Vegan Outreach, so this request is not going to come as a surprise. However, this year I'd like to ask you VERY LOUDLY. Because I've been sick, I haven't been able to contribute my physical energy to Vegan Outreach. I honestly cannot express how frustrating (and depressing) this has been. So if I could have one magic wish this Christmas, it would be to regain my full health so that I could jump back into leafleting and making this world a better place, one little piece at a time. But I'm not going to be well by Christmas. I've got months, if not years, ahead of me.

So I'm asking that, rather than purchasing a gift for me, you make a donation to Vegan Outreach in my honor. Vegan Outreach runs on energy and generosity. You can't give me energy, but you can direct your generosity. Any money you would spend on a gift for me, no matter how small, I would prefer be given to Vegan Outreach. Nothing could touch me more, especially this year.

You can donate securely online at VeganOutreach.org. We currently have a matching donation challenge, so your donation will be doubled--so remember to mark your donation for the matching challenge in the "comments" section of the donation form!

Cranberry Sorbet

Growing up, I never had fresh cranberries. The only cranberries I'd have all year were that disgusting cranberry jelly stuff in a can. Luckily, my horizons have expanded since then. Still, I don't much care for any sort of cranberry relish on Thanksgiving.

Luckily, Habanero reminded me about the magic that is cranberry sorbet. So mix it up a little this Thanksgiving and Christmas, and replace your relish--or that nasty jelly stuff--with sorbet!

I don't have my own cranberry sorbet recipe (I use one from a cookbook), but here are some fabulous links to get you started on your sorbet adventure:

Fresh Cranberry Sorbet from the Fat-Free Vegan
Cranberry Sorbet with Grand Marnier from About.com
Cranberry-Pineapple Sorbet from Recipezaar.com

I like to top my cranberry sorbet with some toasted chopped walnuts, but candied orange peel would also be lovely. Or go naked and just enjoy the sorbet on its own!

Thanksgiving Spotlight

Next Thursday (November 27) is Thanksgiving here in the United States. I hope all of my readers will have a wonderful holiday. Unfortunately, vegans can end up feeling out of place at many tables, if celebrating with friends or family who insist on having a huge dead bird on the table. And proposing your own vegan Thanksgiving might not go over so well with everyone (but give it a try anyway). Often a compromise must be reached--even if we don't like it.

So this year I'd like to spotlight Pumpkin Ice Cream. It's one of the first ice creams I ever tried, back in the day when it was absolutely impossible to find more than four flavors of vegan ice cream, even at specialty stores. I still love this ice cream, and it's perfect this time of year. (If you want to make it really decadent, you can use part or all coconut milk.) I think it will please even the most critical non-vegan relative.

Gluten-free ice cream?

I recently received an excellent question: Which of my ice cream recipes are gluten-free?

I am not super-familiar with strict gluten requirements--much of this will depend upon how sensitive an individual is to gluten. Many foods may have been exposed to gluten during manufacturing, so when in doubt, ask the company. For example, you might need to check if your preferred brand of chocolate chips or vanilla extract is totally gluten-free. Companies are usually good about responding to consumer questions (and they might already have a FAQ on their website). Also, the more companies hear that there is a demand for gluten-free products, the more likely they are to produce them! (Same goes for vegan products--so make your voices heard!)

In general, most of my recipes are gluten-free if your non-dairy milk is totally gluten-free--and it probably is. My recipes tend to follow this formula:

non-dairy milk + sugar + flavor base (fruit, extracts, spices, etc.) + arrowroot = ice cream

So usually you're in the clear. And some of the recipes that would otherwise contain gluten can be made gluten-free if you make simple substitutions. For example, if you use gluten-free cookie dough in the Cookie Dough Ice Cream recipe, even if other people would use a wheat-based dough.

However, if you are in doubt, play it safe and pick another recipe that you know you can enjoy. If you have questions about a particular ingredient (or gluten-free diets in general), this is an excellent resource. They've got lists of safe and unsafe ingredients, info about particular companies, and much more.

If any of my readers have tips or gluten-free vegan recipes to share, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Anyone got a great GF brownie recipe? Cookies? Got a GF vegan blog? Inquiring minds want to know.

Barack-y Road Ice Cream

Can we make a delicious rocky road ice cream? Yes, we can! Can we make it without dairy? Yes, we can! Can we make it without soy? Yes, we can! Gluten-free? Yes, we can!

To celebrate Barack Obama, I wanted to bring together bipartisan elements--coconut and chocolate, marshmallow fluff and almonds--to create one amazing ice cream. An ice cream that celebrates multiple flavors at once, that reaches out even to non-ice-cream-lovers, offering a friendly hand, inviting them into the ice creamery of our country.

Just as we can change coconut milk, sugar, and chocolate during the ice-cream-making process, our support of Barack Obama can lead to massive and much-needed change in our government. Can we make ice cream? Can we create change? YES, WE CAN!

3 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. chocolate extract (optional, but yummy)
1 c. Suzanne's Ricemallow Creme (or 1 c. chopped vegan marshmallows)
1 c. chopped or sliced almonds

Mix arrowroot with 1/4 cup coconut milk and set aside.

Mix the remaining coconut milk, sugar, and chocolate chips in a pan, heating gently to melt the chocolate, whisking every minute or so. Once the chocolate has melted, bring the mixture to a low boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, remove from heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should cause the mixture to thicken a little; it will thicken more when cooled.

Add vanilla and chocolate extracts.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions, adding the chopped/sliced nuts in the last five minutes of freezing. If you are using chopped marshmallows, add these with the almonds. If you are using the marshmallow creme, transfer the ice cream to your storage container in batches. Layer the marshmallow fluff with the ice cream. You could also drag a butter knife through the mixture to additionally swirl the fluff (kind of like when you make a marble cake). Stick the thing in the freezer to bust out at your next campaign party.

-----------------------------

Now that you've got your ice cream, I'm stepping aside for my guest blogger and sous-chef, my wonderful husband, Nick:

Hello fellow ice cream fans,

In 2004, I watched both presidential debates, and vice presidential debates. I shouted at the screen, I picked over the rhetoric afterward, and when election day came I voted. That night I watched the results come in, one state at a time, with a mounting sense of dread and disbelief. How, I asked myself, could the country made such a fundamentally wrong choice? It was only this winter, as the new presidential campaign got underway that I realized one of the major problems in 2004.

I hadn't gotten involved.

The country chose the way it did partly because I (and others like me) sat on the sidelines and expected the world to change. Which is why I'm writing you today. This year I'm involved.

I'd like you to join me.

If you remain unconvinced that Obama's the best choice, I'd like an opportunity to convince you a few paragraphs from now. But if you already know you're going to vote for Obama, then here's what you can do to take your support to the next level:

1. Register to vote. Depending on where you live, the deadline may be fast approaching!

2. Volunteer for the campaign. The Obama campaign has made it really easy to volunteer. For instance, this spring, I called voters in key primary states. All I had to do was click a few links and dial some numbers. If you're not into calling people, there are dozens of ways to get involved. You can volunteer a few hours a week and make a difference.

3. Donate to the campaign. Even just a few dollars can make a difference! (This is my personal fundraising page.) Small donations make a big difference in this campaign. Unlike previous campaigns, a huge percentage of Obama's money comes from ordinary citizens like you and me. More money will help the campaign hire organizers, make phone calls, and take our message to every state in the country.

Ok, I hope you're already clicking on links and getting involved. Thanks in advance for your support, I know that your effort will pay off on election day.

I'll sign off now, but not before I present my summary case for Barack Obama.

--- Why I'm Supporting Obama ---

There are lots of reasons I think Obama will be the superior president. Here are the top 3:

1. Climate Crisis
There's no greater threat to our society, prosperity, and the planet than unchecked global weaming. I'm pleased to say that John McCain has actually engaged with this issue, and may even do something about it if he's elected. However, a brief look at each candidate's website reveals who is really serious about the issue. John McCain's energy plan starts with ... more drilling for fossil fuels.

Compare for yourself:
Obama
McCain

If you need any further proof, John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is on record as of October 2 saying that she does not believe that climate change is caused by humans. The planet can ill-afford four more years of head-in-sand climate change policy.

2. Leadership
I started working for the Obama campaign in early spring, shortly after I spent some time online watching the top Democratic candidate speeches. As I listened to Obama's message, and the way he phrased it, I realized that I was watching a leader I could support. Not just "hold my nose and vote for." Here was a leader who spoke to what was best in us as a nation, who believed that we could rise above our differences and deliver a better future for the world. Here was a candidate who inspired me.

I think that he will be able to inspire others too. This nation needs change, and change can be hard. We'll need a leader who can get us all pulling in the same direction.

If you want a taste of what I'm talking about, Obama's convention speech is an excellent example. I also thought his speech on race was powerful.

3. Iraq
I believe that the Iraq war has been a national nightmare--a long, bloody distraction from urgent issues that we could be solving. I could go on and on, but you all have heard enough about this terrible disaster.

In short: Obama has opposed this war since 2002. McCain has stood with Bush and backed the war since the beginning.

Obama's top priority is bringing an end to the war. McCain's is "succeeding" (whatever that means). I trust that Obama has the judgement and temper to bring a swift end to the war and turn us back to saner (and safer!) foreign policy.

4. (Bonus!) Economy and Taxes
Obama's tax plan funds our government in a significantly more progressive way, while John McCain's plan increases the tax inequality that began in the Bush administration. Check out this analysis.

---- Why Obama Needs Our Help ---

While millions of Americans support Obama, and I still think he'll win, the recent media circus around his running mate has boosted John McCain's campaign. Obama's fortunes have always depended not only on the voting public, but on his supporters. Those who donate time, money, and enthusiasm. I'm hoping to expand his base.

Thanks for listening, and I'll see you on the campaign trail,

Nick

Sabbatical

I apologize for the lack of new recipes. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been ill for some time. And as much as I love ice cream and blogging, I'm reserving what little energy I have for more mundane tasks. My illness is not life-threatening, but it's a major pain in the ass. I'm running at about 20% capacity, both physically and mentally, and I've had to put much of my life on hold.

It's been a difficult time, but I've used the experiences I've had to learn and grow. Clouds and silver linings, lemon and lemonade, all that crap. Seriously, though, while I am very frustrated with being ill, I think that this period in my life has taught me a lot about patience, acceptance, and what I value most.

I have started a new course of treatment (combining Western and "alternative" medicine), and along with the support I've received from Reiki and shamanic healing, I have reason to be cautiously optimistic about my prospects for recovery.

I'd like to thank all my readers who have expressed concern and offered support, even though I've not been delivering the recipes for which this blog was created. I hope that soon I will return from my little sabbatical and dish up some crazy delicious vegan goodness.

Stevia, Splenda, and Other Sweet Things

I'm asked about sugar alternatives so frequently that I figured I should just write a post about the topic. I have no personal experience with using stevia or artificial sweeteners. My husband and I don't care for them at all. My husband has a very strong dislike of stevia in particular. So I've never used it in my ice cream recipes.

However, a little Internet research has led me to believe that you could probably substitute 1 teaspoon of pure stevia (no fillers to bulk up the powder) per cup of sugar in my ice cream recipes. I think that Splenda can be substituted cup for cup (1 cup sugar = 1 cup Splenda). Of course, there are many other sugar alternatives out there, but with a little experimentation, you can probably find something that works for you.

I'd love to hear your comments about what you discover. It will help other readers, too, because I have no plans to abandon my evaporated cane juice (or whatever you want to call it).

Measurements

When I started this blog, I didn't realize that I'd have so many readers, much less that they would come from so many different parts of the globe! So I hope I can be forgiven for not mentioning until now that all of my ingredient measurements are "we're afraid of the metric system and refuse to join the rest of the world" American-style. Furthermore, I tend to abbreviate cups to "c." and teaspoons to "t." So here's the breakdown of what it all means:

• C. = cups. If liquid, it means a 8-oz liquid cup. If dry, it means a dry measurement cup.
• t. = teaspoon.
• T. = tablespoon.

Here's a handy website for converting cups and teaspoons and the like into grams.

P.S. I again apologize for the lack of new recipes. I've got one in the works, but I'm still rather ill. I'm exploring both traditional and non-traditional, Western and non-Western treatments, but it is a very slow process and very little is helping. My illness is not life-threatening, but it does slow me down quite a bit.

Coconut Bliss: A Review

Fear not, dear readers! My recent absence from blogging is not because of my very bad veganness or because I'm bored with ice cream. Unfortunately, I've been ill for a few months now, and haven't had the time or the energy to make up any new recipes. (And, no, before you ask, I am not ill because I am vegan. I've seen four internists, six specialists, two naturopaths, two acupuncturists, and one shaman. No one has suggested that my diet has any relation to my ongoing illness.)

Anyway. Since I'm not up to making my own ice cream, my poor husband has had to start buying his ice cream at the grocery store. However, this led to a wonderful discovery! I heard about Larry and Luna's Coconut Bliss from a reader quite some time ago, but I didn't purchase any until recently. My husband found it at our local co-op, and it was on sale. Normally this runs about five or six dollars a pint--yikes! Since it was on sale, though, he picked some up for us to review. Our sample: Cherry Amaretto.

The verdict: I love that I can recognize all the ingredients on the label: organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, organic cherries, organic vanilla extract, organic almond extract. Cool. (They're also gluten-free, which is great for those with allergies.) Also, the texture was quite creamy, though it does freeze pretty hard. The label says to let it sit at room temperature for five to ten minutes before serving. I'm too impatient and would just microwave it for a few seconds to soften it up. And, most importantly, it was yummy. I think my husband polished off the entire pint in about four days.

Unfortunately, this brand isn't available nationwide yet. Their website says you can check stores in Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. If your local Whole Foods or other health/natural food store doesn't carry it, you can always request that they try carrying it!

The Very Bad Vegan

Apparently, my last post about Guinness Ice Cream has alienated about half my blog readers, who are convinced that I am a VERY BAD VEGAN.

They are so very right. I am a terrible vegan. Once I bought fortified juice that contained vitamin D3. I eat in restaurants that serve meat, and I don't harangue the staff about whether my food is cooked on the same grill as animal products. I have accidentally purchased cereal that contained honey--and then ate it anyway. I don't own a copy of Animal Ingredients A to Z.

Actually, I did own a copy once, shortly after becoming vegan. I remember flipping through the pages and feeling overwhelmed that I would have to memorize this long list of often obscure ingredients and contact each company from whom I purchased food or other products to ask if they used, at any point, any one of thousands of animal-derived ingredients. Part of me thought that this would make me way hard core, the baddest-ass vegan on the block. The rest of me thought that maybe this vegan thing was, like all my friends kept telling me, way too extreme and difficult and not at all practical.

Since then, I've come to realize that obsessing over minute traces of hidden ingredients (or accidental "contamination" in restaurants) makes veganism look like it's not very much fun and takes way too much work. I'd much rather people spend time with me and come away with the impression that veganism isn't a militant all-or-nothing battle to prove my street cred, but rather a way to reduce the suffering of animals. I personally agree with Matt Ball, co-founder of Vegan Outreach and generally supernice guy,

Conversely, for every person we convince that veganism is overly-demanding by obsessing with an ever-increasing list of ingredients, we do worse than nothing: we turn someone away who could have made a real difference for animals if they hadn't met us! Currently the vast majority of people in our society have no problem eating the actual leg of a chicken. It is not surprising that many people dismiss vegans as unreasonable and irrational when our example includes interrogating waiters, not eating veggie burgers cooked on the same grill with meat, not taking photographs or using medicines, etc.

Instead of spending our limited time and resources worrying about the margins (cane sugar, film, medicine, etc.), our focus should be on increasing our impact every day. Helping just one person change leads to hundreds fewer animals suffering in factory farms. By choosing to promote compassionate eating, every person we meet is a potential major victory.

Admittedly, this results-based view of veganism is not as straightforward as consulting a list. Areas of concern range from the example we set to the allocation of resources, asking questions such as: Do I bother asking for an ingredient list when with non-veg friends and family, perhaps not eating anything, and risk making veganism appear petty and impossible? How should I spend or donate my limited money and time?

Situations are subtle and opportunities unique, thus there can be no set answers. But if our decisions are guided by a desire to accomplish the most good, we each have enormous potential to create change. (link)

That said, if you don't want to use Guinness in your ice cream because it might contain isinglass, I'm sure you can find a different beer. I don't know of one, because I don't drink beer. I couldn't tell you the difference between a pale ale and a stout. When I do buy beer for my husband, it's almost always from one of our local microbrews and I have no idea if they use isinglass or not. Because, as we have established, I am a very bad vegan.

I'm OK with being a bad vegan. You can stop reading my blog if you want, as some have threatened. You can even modify my recipes to your standard of veganism. That's cool with me.

I'm more concerned with making veganism fun and accessible, and in pursuit of that goal I play around with ice cream, write this blog, and do a lot of volunteering for Vegan Outreach, handing out thousands of copies of "Why Vegan" and "Even If You Like Meat" on college campuses, at festivals, and outside of concerts. Is that enough to let me into the vegan club?

Guinness Ice Cream

Danielle F. sent me this recipe. She says, "I'm not a vegan, and frankly, I know nothing about it, but I have a friend who is lactose intolerant, and I found this recipe for Guinness ice cream that I wanted to try but wanted her to be able to eat, so I adapted it using your website and recipes. Thought I'd share. I realized afterwards that Guinness is actually a genius choice for vegan ice cream because it already has a creamy flavor."

I use arrowroot powder to thicken my ice creams, but Danielle skipped the arrowroot altogether, so I'll leave it out of the recipe, as well. Here's Danielle's awesome creation:

2 c. soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
12 oz. Guinness
3/4 c. sugar

Whisk ingredients together by hand. For best results, chill before freezing. Then freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Enjoy! Raise a scoop in honor of Danielle!

Danielle notes that this recipe made more liquid than her ice cream maker could handle in one freezing cycle. So you can either scale back the amounts, or freeze in batches. Don't overfill the ice cream maker. It makes the baby Jesus cry.

Chocolate Candy Cane Ice Cream

Chocolate and mint go so well together, and now that candy canes are everywhere, I just had to mix the two. If you want to skip the chocolate for pure candy cane bliss, just follow the recipe variation listed below.

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
1½ c. chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. peppermint extract
1 c. chopped candy canes

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, and chocolate chips together in a saucepan. Heat gently until the chocolate melts, then bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped candy canes in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Variation:

Candy Cane: Omit the chocolate chips. Add an additional cup soy milk.

Prickly Pear Ice Cream

Below you will find two recipes for prickly pear ice cream: the recipe I actually made, and the recipe I would eventually like to make. See, I used to live in Arizona, where I took prickly pear fruit for granted. You could just walk out to your yard (or your neighbor’s) and pick the prickly pears. Now I’m in Seattle and have a great plum tree, but no cacti. My mother-in-law graciously gave me a bottle of prickly pear syrup, which I used in the first recipe below. The syrup would make a great addition to lemonade or margaritas, but sadly tasted more like sugar than prickly pear. (This didn’t keep us from enjoying the ice cream, mind you!) I think if I could find prickly pear concentrate, this method would produce better results.

The second recipe is what I will try to make when I get my greedy little paws on some prickly pears. It will also be a great chance to use agave nectar in ice cream, since you’ll have this whole desert thing going on.

Recipe #1:

2 c. soy creamer, or any non-dairy milk
1 ½ c. soy milk, or any non-dairy milk
¾ c. prickly pear syrup
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot powder
2 – 4 T. tequila (optional)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, prickly pear syrup, and lime juice together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. After the mixture is cool, stir in the tequila, if using. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Recipe #2:

5 - 6 ripe prickly pear fruits
2 c. soy creamer, or any non-dairy milk
1 ½ c. soy milk, or any non-dairy milk
½ c. sugar (or ¼ c. agave nectar)
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot powder
2 – 4 T. tequila (optional)

Carefully (they have spines!!!) peel the prickly pears and puree in a food processor.

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the pureed prickly pears, soy creamer, soy milk, lime juice, and sugar (or agave nectar) together in a sauce pan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. After the mixture is cool, stir in the tequila, if using. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

New Non-Dairy Cream!

The Urban Housewife brought my attention to a new non-dairy, soy-free cream! It's called MimicCreme, and the main ingredients are almonds and cashews. You can buy both sweetened and unsweetened varieties. Unfortunately, my cashew allergy prevents me from actually trying this, but it sounds like a winner to me! You could use it to replace some or all of the soy creamer/non-dairy milk in ice cream recipes. You can learn more about it here. If you try it, please leave a comment and let us all know how it is!

Have you voted yet?

More specifically, have you voted for me? The VegNews Awards polls close on September 1, so get your voting action on. Do it for the children. Or, you know, for me. Either way is OK.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

This ice cream recipe has two awesome results. The first, obviously, is the ice cream. The second is that you have to make carrot cake, and you won’t use it all, so you’ll also have carrot cake! You can eat carrot cake topped with carrot cake ice cream! It’s carrot cake insanity!

I used the carrot cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but you can use any carrot cake you want. But seriously, y’all, the recipe in VCTOTW is freaking fantastic—absolutely the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. I also use the vegan cream cheese frosting recipe in the book, but I decrease the margarine and increase the cream cheese for a little more zing. Please note that the carrot cake chunks in the ice cream are unfrosted—wait to frost the remaining cake/cupcakes until after you’ve taken out the cake you need for the ice cream.

2 c. soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk)
½ c. soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 8-ounce container vegan cream cheese
¾ c. brown sugar
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. powdered ginger
pinch allspice (optional)
pinch nutmeg (optional)
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla
2 c. crumbled carrot cake chunks

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, vegan cream cheese, sugar, and spices together in a saucepan, and heat. As the mixture is heating, gently whisk the ingredients together to break apart the cream cheese. By the time the mixture starts to boil, the cream cheese should be completely mixed in. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set aside the ice cream mixture to cool. While this is cooling, line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Spread the carrot cake chunks across the baking sheet and place in the freezer. If you do not freeze the carrot cake chunks, they will crumble completely when you add them at the end of the freezing process. This still produces an awesome ice cream, but if you want chunks of carrot cake in your finished product, you need to freeze the cake pieces in advance.

Freeze ice cream mixture according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. In the last five minutes of freezing, drop in the individually frozen pieces of carrot cake.

Cherry Ice Cream (with Variations)

My first attempt at making cherry ice cream involved a bleak winter day and frozen cherries from Albertson’s. The results were predictably flavorless and rather dismal. Good cherries are essential for cherry ice cream. So this time I purchased fresh, organic cherries and pitted them myself, flinging bright red cherry juice all over the kitchen so that it looked like something you’d expect on CSI, minus Gil Grissom and the little flashlights. The clean-up was a pain, but it was totally worth it. (I personally recommend making the Cherry Almond Delight variation.) P.S. The red food coloring is totally optional, but it makes the ice cream much prettier than the reddish-brown natural cherry color.

2 c. pitted cherries, quartered
½ - ¾ c. sugar, depending on how sour your cherries are
Splash of water
2 c. almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 T. arrowroot powder
1 t. vanilla extract
½ - 1 t. almond extract (optional)
Few drops red food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Place 1¼ cup of the pitted cherries and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Add a tiny splash of water and bring to a boil, stirring to mix the sugar and the cherries. Once the cherries are getting soft and yummy and sweet, pour them into a blender and puree.

Pour the puree back into the saucepan and add the almond (or other non-dairy) milk. Bring the mixture back to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and almond extract (if using). Add red food coloring until you’re happy with the shade of pink/red.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add remaining cherries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Variations:

Cherry Almond Delight: Definitely use 1 teaspoon almond extract. Add ½ cup sliced, toasted almonds along with the sliced cherries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Cherry Chocolate Chip: Add ¾ cup chocolate chips along with the sliced cherries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Dandy Brandy Cherry: Add ¼ to ½ cup cherry brandy after the ice cream mixture has cooled, but before you freeze it.

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s about time I drew up a FAQ, isn’t it? Thought so. So here are the answers to a bunch of questions. Yup.

Q. Do you have any general guidelines or advice?

A. You bet. Check ’em out here.

Q. What kind of texture should I end up with after freezing? My ice cream is too soft! My ice cream is too hard! I want my ice cream to be just right!

A. After you’ve finished freezing the ice cream in your ice cream maker, it’s usually the texture of soft-serve ice cream. You probably won’t eat it all right away, so you can store the rest in the freezer. It will harden. A lot. It’s going to be harder than store-bought ice cream because it’s not whipped around and aerated the way commercially made ice cream is. If it’s too hard to scoop, just zap it in the microwave for ten seconds or so.

If your ice cream is too soft after freezing it in your ice cream maker, you may have fallen to a couple of common pitfalls. First, the colder the ice cream liquid is before freezing, the easier it is to freeze. I usually leave my liquid in the fridge for several hours to overnight. Second, if you have an ice cream maker that utilizes a freezing container that must be frozen first, make sure that it’s properly frozen. My ice cream maker has one of these, and I just leave it in the freezer at all times.

If you want to make the ice cream softer/creamier right of the freezer, you can do a couple of things. The first is to increase the fat content. The more fat the ice cream contains, the softer it will be in the freezer. You can use a non-dairy milk with a higher fat content (e.g., coconut milk), or you can add fat yourself. Adding ¼ cup flax oil is a great way to give your ice cream an omega-3 boost while making it creamier, too. You can use any other oil you like, but if you use flax oil be sure to whisk it in after the cooling period (prior to freezing) because heat can damage flax oil.

Adding alcohol to your ice cream will also prevent it from freezing as hard. If you’ve ever put a bottle of vodka in the freezer before making martinis, you’ve noticed that it doesn’t freeze. So mixing in ¼ cup to ½ cup booze after the cooling period (so it doesn’t boil off) will make the ice cream more difficult to freeze. If you choose this route, be sure to use a flavor that blends well with your ice cream. For example, brandy goes well with chocolate; tequila goes well with lime or lemon; rum is essential for rum raisin. Please note: This will not make you get drunk on your ice cream. You might notice the flavor of the alcohol, but you won’t get tipsy. Bummer, I know.

Q. What about using sweeteners other than sugar? Can I use agave nectar? Brown rice syrup? What about sugar-free ice cream?

A. I like using plain sugar in most recipes because it has a very neutral flavor that won’t influence the overall flavor of the ice cream. If I want a deeper molasses flavor, I’ll use Sucanat or brown sugar, or even molasses. (I even have a recipe for molasses ice cream!) If you have concerns about how “vegan” white sugar is, I would encourage you to first read this, and then if you’re still upset with me for using white sugar (or “evaporated cane juice,” as I do), rest assured that you can find sugar that hasn’t been processed using bone char.

I will probably eventually experiment with brown rice syrup, agave nectar, and maple syrup. In the mean time, if you experiment with any of these sweeteners, let me know how it goes! Your input is valuable!

As for “artificial” sweeteners (or their natural counterparts), I don’t care for these at all, and my husband won’t touch them. So I haven’t experimented with them. But I imagine you could use products like Splenda or stevia to make sugar-free ice cream. Again, if you try any of these, let me know how it goes so I can be better informed!

Q. What kind of ice cream maker should I use? What if I don’t have an ice cream maker?

A. Check out my post on this here.

Q. Can I use agar agar or cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder?

A. I haven’t used agar agar or cornstarch, but you could always try it. (And let me know how it turns out for you!) You could also try skipping the arrowroot completely, especially in recipes that produce a very thick liquid (like my avocado ice cream).

Q. Can I use xanthan gum instead of arrowroot powder?

A. Again, I haven't tried this, but here's what Myra Kornfeld says in The Voluptous Vegan (which has a few awesome ice cream recipes!): "[Unlike arrowroot powder, which must be heated] you need only to blend the xanthan gum with the ice cream base." So I imagine you could skip the heating step altogether, unless you want to make it easier for the sugar to dissolve, and just toss everything together in a blender or whisk it together by hand. If you do heat it to blend the sugar, then I guess you'd just blend/whisk the xanthan gum in at the end with the vanilla.

Q. What is this “soy creamer” you keep mentioning?

A. I am not talking about Coffeemate or those other “non-dairy creamer” powders. Yuck! What I’m referring to are products like Silk Creamer (there are other brands, too, but they are harder to find). It’s basically soy milk with added fat and sugar to mimic the properties of dairy cream or half-and-half. You can find this in the dairy section of the grocery store near the soy milk or the liquid Coffeemate-type creamers.

Keep in mind that you do not need to use soy creamer at all, even if I use it frequently. You can replace it with any non-dairy milk, and if you want that little extra fat, think about using coconut milk instead (or even whisking in ¼ cup oil).

Q. Can I use something other than soy milk?

A. Of course! I personally like soy milk, but you can use rice milk, oat milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, cashew milk…you get the picture. Each milk with have its own properties (fat content, nutritional information, allergy issues), so choose what you like best and go with it!

Q. What does "c" mean? What about "t"?

A. I finally got around to explaining in this post. Sorry for the delay.

Q. You have won the International Lottery. Please to send assistance and your financial information so we can process your prize.

A. ZOMG really?!?!? w00t!

VegNews Awards!!!

Holy crap. My blog has been nominated for a 2007 VegNews Award. I am so totally flattered and excited and I'm all in a tizzy. So if you like my blog and you like ice cream, please vote for me! And if you don't like my blog or ice cream, then you are clearly a communist sympathizer and a hippie and you hate freedom and probably kittens too, and I don't want to be your friend anyway. So there.

And can I just say again, LIKE OMG I AM SO EXCITED! OK, enough of that. Let's be dignified here. And vote. Click on the pretty banner to take the survey! (Also, if you take the survey, you will be entered to win cool prizes from VegNews.)

Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

I'm spending the day cleaning my basement. It's a dank, smelly, drafty place, and it's full of spiders. Big spiders. Luckily, my husband is on Spider Duty, whereby he catches them and lets them go in the yard. Still, today pretty much sucks and I don't have time to make ice cream.

But, lo! I present a fellow blogger's awesome recipe for Chocolate Almond Ice Cream. It sounds awesome and I wish I were making it right now instead of preparing to do battle with spiders the size of New Mexico.

For something completely different, I give you a picture of Bean:

Chick-O-Stick Ice Cream

Oh hell yes.

1½ c. coconut milk
1¾ c. soy milk, or other non-dairy milk
¾ c. sugar
1/3 c. peanut butter
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped Chick-O-Stick pieces

Mix ¼ cup of coconut milk with the 2 tablespoon of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the coconut milk, soy milk, sugar, and peanut butter together in a saucepan, and heat. As it heats, whisk the mixture so the peanut butter blends into the milk. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add Chick-O-Stick pieces in the last five minutes of freezing.

Rum Raisin Ice Cream

Yo ho ho and a bowl of ice cream! Indulge your inner pirate with some rum-flavored ice cream. Coconut milk works very well here (I use half full-fat and half "light" coconut milk), but any non-dairy milk, or any combination of non-dairy milks, will work.

¾ c. raisins
¾ c. dark rum
3½ c. coconut milk, or any non-dairy milk
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract

Place raisins into a bowl and cover with rum. Set aside for at least 30 minutes. Longer soaking will produce a more intense rum flavor. (I soak mine overnight.)

Mix ¼ cup of coconut milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the remaining coconut milk and sugar together in a saucepan, and heat. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool.

After the raisins have finished soaking, strain the raisins, reserving ¼ cup rum. Stir reserved rum into ice cream mixture. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add raisins in the last five minutes of freezing.

Health Nut Ice Cream

I wanted to try adding flax oil to ice cream, since it is such a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. So I figured I'd try to make a "healthy" ice cream, which isn't really healthy, but it's not too bad for ice cream. It's got berries (I used blueberries) and flax oil and granola! How crunchy hippie could I get? Well, crunchy enough to break out the Sucanat, a type of unrefined sugar that has a much more pronounced flavor than my usual "evaporated cane juice."

A word of warning: the Sucanat is a dark brown color, so it will make your ice cream darker. The blueberries and Sucanat combined to make my ice cream look kind of like cement. Not very attractive, but still yummy!

1 c. soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk)
1½ c. soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 c. berries of your choice (fresh or frozen and thawed)
¾ c. unrefined sugar, such as Sucanat
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla
¼ c. flax oil
1 c. granola or ¾ c. granola and ¼ c. chopped nuts (if your granola is nut-free)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Slice 1 cup of berries (if necessary; obviously you don’t slice blueberries) and set aside.

Combine the remaining berries, soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar together in a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. When the mixture is cool, whisk in flax oil. (Heat damages flax oil.)

Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add reserved berries and granola in the last five minutes of freezing.

Ginger Ice Cream

I think that coconut milk is a natural choice for this ice cream, but you can use any non-dairy milk you like and omit the coconut extract. Need a chocolate fix? See “Variation” below for Chocolate Ginger Ice Cream. Finally, you’ll notice quite a range in the amount of minced ginger you can use. My husband loves ginger, so I’d use the full ½ cup, but that might be too much for some people.

3½ c. coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
¼ - ½ c. minced ginger (depending on how gingery you like it)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. coconut extract (optional)
¾ c. crystallized ginger, chopped into small pieces

Directions:

Mix ¼ cup of coconut milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the coconut milk and minced ginger together and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and set aside for 25 minutes to steep. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the minced ginger. Keep the milk; throw out the ginger.

Mix the coconut milk and sugar together and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract and coconut extract, if using.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add crystallized ginger in the last five minutes of freezing.

Variation:

Chocolate Ginger Ice Cream: Add ½ cup chocolate chips and/or ¼ cup cocoa powder with the sugar. For an extra chocolate kick, add 1 teaspoon pure chocolate extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla or coconut extract.

Coffee Ice Cream (with Variations)

I personally love making the mocha variation of this recipe. Depending on how much of the coffee flavor you want to shine through, you can use regular drip coffee or espresso. Espresso will produce a much stronger flavor, but coffee will be fine too (and not everyone owns an espresso maker). Of course, the better the coffee you use, the better this will taste. If you use Starbucks coffee, well, don’t blame me if it sucks. (You could also use decaf or half-caf if you don’t want too much caffeine, but where’s the fun in that?)

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 ¼ c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. fresh, strong coffee or espresso
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, coffee, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Variations:

Add-ins: Add in ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate-covered espresso beans during the last five minutes of freezing.

Mocha: Reduce soy milk to 1 cup. Melt in ¼ cup chocolate chips during initial heating phase. For more chocolate excitement, add a couple tablespoons more chocolate chips, or use chocolate non-dairy milk instead of plain.

Kahlua: Reduce soy milk to 1 cup. Stir in ¼ cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur after adding vanilla.

Matthew Scudder: Reduce soy milk to 1 cup. Add a plug or two of bourbon after adding vanilla. Then go catch a criminal or solve a murder or something.

Coconut Squared!

When you really need your coconut, this is where to turn. (As always, you might want to check out the General Guidelines and Advice before starting.)

3½ c. coconut milk (full fat or light, or a combination of the two)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
½ t. vanilla extract
½ t. coconut extract (optional)
¾ c. coconut shreds or flakes

Mix ¼ cup of coconut milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the coconut milk and sugar together in a saucepan, and heat. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract and coconut extract, if using.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add coconut shreds or flakes in the last five minutes of freezing.

Christmas List

Yes, another post that's not about ice cream. I was going to make soy nog ice cream this weekend, but I couldn't find any soy nog! Whole Foods had it in stock the week before, but this week they're all out. Boo. I could make homemade nog, but, dude, I'm totally too lazy.

Anyway, since the winter holidays are coming up, I wanted to share an idea for Christmas (or other holiday!) giving. Nick and I are pretty fortunate that all of our basic needs (food, clean drinking water, shelter, clothing, medicine) are met easily. As for our wants, we can usually afford the reasonably priced toys (camping gear, books, iPods, kitchen gadgets, etc.), and if we can't afford something, we can save up for it. If we can't save up for it, then we probably don't really "need" it (i.e., want it enough) anyway. So asking for material goods at the holidays isn't really what we prefer to do.

After all, I think most of us would agree that, if we had a magic wand or three wishes or whatever, we'd wish for things like peace, happiness, and a better life for the people, animals, and planet around us. With that in mind, Nick and I have for a couple of years now requested charitable donations to Vegan Outreach for Christmas. Vegan Outreach is an amazing organization that is directly working to reduce the suffering of animals who are forced to live on factory farms and die in slaughterhouses to satisfy our preference for the flesh of other creatures. Plus, we volunteer for them, so they must be cool, right?

We worked together to draft letters to send to our families to express our Christmas wishes. The following is the letter I sent to my family. I wanted to share it in the hopes that it might provide a little holiday inspiration. Here it is:

Hello all,

As Christmas approaches, I wanted to send out my Christmas "wish list." This year it's pretty simple. Nick and I are tremendously blessed with friends and family and a comfortable life, so we don't really need or want any material gifts. We would prefer something that, at its heart, would make the world a better place. As you know, we both are actively engaged with the animal advocacy group Vegan Outreach. They fight against factory farming as a way to reduce the suffering of animals. They are a dedicated, honest, and productive organization. Also, as a non-profit, all donations to them are tax-deductible.

Additionally, Vegan Outreach has been awarded the "Best In America" seal by the Independent Charities of America and the National Council of Nonprofit Associations--one of 1500 so designated, out of more than 50,000 that participate in the Combined Federal Campaign.

So instead of material presents, we would prefer donations to Vegan Outreach! You can donate securely online on their website here.

Finally, I'd like to note that you don't need to be vegetarian or vegan to donate, nor should you feel awkward about donating to a "vegan" charity. None of us are perfect, and we just do what we can to make the world a better place. Indeed, this is a major part of the Vegan Outreach "philosophy," as explained in one of their booklets called "Even If You Like Meat" (seen online here). We can't fix all the world's problems tomorrow, but we can chip away at injustice a little at a time!

Peace,

Agnes

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Whew! Thanksgiving is over. The last week has been full of activity, and I've had a great time. Now Christmas is looming on the horizon, and I'm looking forward to making some holiday-themed vegan ice creams, like candy cane and soy nog.

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Nick and I visited the California Farm Sanctuary shelter for their "Celebration for the Turkeys." Instead of eating a turkey, you get to feed the turkeys! The turkeys especially liked the cranberry stuffing the Farm Sanctuary staff prepared. We also got to meet many of the other rescued animals at the shelter. And I just can't resist sharing pictures!

Here's Nick meeting Hank. Hank liked having his face petted.


Here's me and Linus. I'm brushing Linus's cheeks, and he just loved it.


Here's us feeding the turkeys!



Many of the turkeys we met were recently rescued by the Peninsula Humane Society in nearby San Mateo. Farm Sanctuary notes, "These turkeys were among over 11,500 birds transported from Detroit to San Francisco via Northwest Airlines. Upon arrival at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on July 13, Northwest employees discovered that over 9,000 of the birds had perished in transit from Detroit to SFO. According to the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA), which was the first to take in some of the surviving birds, said they 'believe the massive loss was due to overcrowding. The turkeys couldn't breathe, became overheated, dehydrated and died.' Approximately 1,900 surviving birds were sent to their final destination to become "breeder" birds, whose offspring would be sold for food." Amazingly, after such cruel treatment at the hands of humans, the rescued turkeys were sweet as pumpkin pie!

All in all, the trip to Farm Sanctuary was beautiful and inspiring for both me and Nick. It's easy to forget sometimes that the animals we're working to help are all interesting individuals with their own stories, just like the cats we've rescued and made a part of our family.

Anyway, after our pre-Thanksgiving celebration at Farm Sanctuary, we had our own vegan celebration at home with some friends. I was very good this year and didn't get completely stressed and overwork myself trying to make twenty different menu items! I kept it simple (simple for me, at least), and the results were great!

The menu:

- Winter Vegetable Pot Pie (a veganized version from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone), with butternut squash, celery root, parsnips, turnips, carrots, shallots, oyster mushrooms, and brussels sprouts, in a creamy herbed sauce, covered with a (store-bought) puff pastry crust.

- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic (from Vegan with a Vengeance).

- Green salad with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries.

- Homemade whole wheat rolls (I was inspired by the Vivacious Vegan).

- A can of that nasty gelled cranberry sauce that my husband snuck into the house to torment me. (I made him eat it. Revenge! Ha ha ha!)

- Apple crumble.

- Pumpkin squares!!! This is really a pumpkin cake, but my family calls it pumpkin squares for some reason. This year I veganized the recipe and it was so freaking good I'm going to make it again later this week and turn them into cupcakes. I frosted the cake/squares with the vegan cream cheese frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Yes, this is "holding back" for me. And we had only four guests! Yet somehow we had very few leftovers...

Taking Time Off

I just wanted to let y'all know that I'll probably be away from my bloggy for a few days--probably until after Thanksgiving. I've recently enabled comment moderation to deal with comment spam and unhelpful/rude comments. So if you try to post a comment and it doesn't appear, it's either because:

1) you are a jerk who wants to link to your white power website;
2) you want to insult me or my beliefs, rather than engage in intelligent conversation;
3) you're spamming me;
4) you have more misspelled than correctly spelled words in your comment;
5) I accidentally hit "reject" instead of "publish" (crap!);
6) yo momma;

or -- drum roll please--

7) I'm away from my bloggy over the holiday and will get to it all later.

In the meantime, I wish you all a peaceful Thanksgiving. I'd also like to introduce you to our adopted Thanksgiving turkey, Gideon. He lives at Farm Sanctuary, and is a very handsome gentleman, no? We are visiting Farm Sanctuary tomorrow for their annual Celebration for the Turkeys. I hope I get a chance to say hello to Gideon! Don't forget: you, too, can adopt a turkey!

And if you're still trying to figure out what to cook this year, I recommend checking out this site. For dessert, you can also add Pumpkin Ice Cream to the menu! It's like pie in ice cream form.

Avocado Ice Cream

This is a super-simple recipe that doesn’t require any heating or arrowroot powder.

3 ripe avocados
2 – 3 T. lime juice (depending on the strength of the lime)
½ c. sugar
2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 T. tequila (optional)

Place avocado flesh (not the pit or the skin!) in a blender. Add the lime juice, sugar, and 2 cups soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk). Puree until smooth.

If your blender is about to overflow at this point, pour the puree into a large bowl and whisk in the 1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) and tequila (if using). If your blender is large enough to accommodate more liquid, add soy milk and tequila and blend once more.

Pour puree into ice cream maker. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream

You can use whatever vegan chocolate chip cookie dough you like, but I've got a recipe if you need it!

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chip cookie dough

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. While the ice cream mixture is cooling, drop small clumps/balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer to freeze the cookie dough.

Freeze ice cream mixture according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. In the last five minutes of freezing, drop in the individually frozen pieces of cookie dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie. You can also use the cookie dough for cookie dough ice cream, or just crumble the cookies for another version of Cookies and Cream.

1 cup vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance
2 tablespoons "flax eggs" (see note below)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons soy milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper (my preferred method – no extra oil and clean-up is a breeze).

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and flax eggs until the flax eggs are evenly distributed throughout the margarine. Add the white and brown sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and the soy milk (warm soy milk is easier to use because it doesn’t make the margarine harden with the cold).

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the sugar mixture. The batter should be pretty stiff; using a hand mixer will make this step a lot easier! Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 - 13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Note: While there are many ways to replace eggs in baking, my favorite method is to make “flax eggs.” I recommend making these in bulk; it’s easier that way. Combine 1/3 cup flax seeds with 2/3 cup hot water in a blender. Let sit for 15 minutes, then blend until the mixture is gelatinous in texture and whole flax seeds are no longer visible. One tablespoon of flax eggs equals one egg. However, if you use this egg replacer and you notice that your batter isn’t quite as liquid-y as it seems it should be, add 2 to 3 tablespoons water, soy milk, or other liquid. (This is why I have soy milk in this recipe.) Whatever flax eggs you don’t use will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so you’ll have some on hand for the future. (One tip for using flax eggs is to beat the flax eggs into the oil/liquid before adding dry ingredients, as I have done in this recipe. It helps distribute the magic flax all throughout your batter.)

No Ice Cream Maker?

Over the last couple of days, several people have asked about making my vegan ice cream recipes without an ice cream maker. My response was generally of the "Duhhhh...ummm...I dunno" variety. And then I realized that teh Intarweb can answer any question! So I Googled my question and discovered some rather easy methods here and here. (Just ignore their recipes and use your own.)

Another method is to pour your chilled ice cream mixture into a bowl and stick it in the freezer. During the freezing process, take it out every once in a while and beat it with a hand mixer or whiz it up in a food processor so it doesn't freeze into one solid lump.

If you're adventurous, you could even use liquid nitrogen. How awesome would that be? I'll tell you: too awesome.

If you're going to be making homemade ice cream frequently, though, I do recommend purchasing an ice cream maker. It's easier than the other methods, I think. I've got this one
($50), and I really like it. There are cheaper models, too. You should be able to pick up a basic maker for around $20 - 25.

Noteworthy?

So today I was shocked to discover that my blog was listed as a "blog of note" on Blogger. Aw, shucks. The comments and emails have been pouring in, and I've been trying to respond to many of them. Some of my comments never appeared, so I am a bit worried that something might be awry with the comment feature. Nevertheless, I proceed undaunted!

Unsurprisingly, I've heard several times today questions (and occasionally insults) about why I don't eat animal products. I've never really addressed this before on my blog, mostly because I figure if you're looking at a blog about how to make vegan ice cream, you probably aren't asking, "Why vegan?" Since I've gotten so many new visitors, though, I figure now's the time to answer the question.

To distill my reasoning to its purest form, I am vegan for the following reason:

Animals raised for food (whether for meat, milk, or eggs) suffer tremendously. We do not need to eat animal products to be healthy. Therefore, this suffering is unnecessary. Causing unnecessary suffering is unethical. I want to live an ethical life.

I could detail the abuses suffered by animals on modern farms--whether organic, free-range, or conventional--but there are many websites that already have this information presented in a clear, factual, and documented manner.

• Birds raised for meat
• Birds raised for eggs
• Cattle raised for meat
• Cattle raised for milk
• Pigs
• "Free-range" animals

So there you have it. On a much lighter note, tonight I spoke to the Stanford University animal rights group about promoting veganism as a way to reduce animal suffering. I specifically talked about Vegan Outreach's Adopt-A-College program. Best of all, I made cupcakes! (I figured that ice cream would melt.)

So here's your lovely host, displaying carrot cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).

Vegan Brownie Update - and Cupcakes!

Just wanted to note that I've done a little more testing/perfecting of the vegan brownie recipe and have tweaked it just a tad more. I now list the cooking time for a double batch, since more brownies = more better.

And I wanted to say that HOLY CRAP I LOVE CUPCAKES. As you might have guessed, I've acquired a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Which is why you haven't seen many new ice cream recipes on my bloggy. I've been way too busy making cupcakes. And eating cupcakes. And sending cupcakes with my husband to work to give to all his non-vegan coworkers. And reading Terry and Isa's vegan cupcake blog.

I think I can justify this departure from ice cream by sharing a conversation with my husband last night.

Nick: Hmmm...would it be wrong to eat another cupcake? It's the last chocolate one.

Me: The cupcake is calling you! Eeeeeeeeat me! Eeeeeeeeeeat me!

Nick: Oh boy.

Me: You know what this cupcake needs? Ice cream. You need to put that bad boy in the microwave and then top it with ice cream so the ice cream gets all melty and runs into the cupcake and it's like some kind of cupcake/ice cream orgy in your belly.

That's right. Cupcake/ice cream orgy. You know you want it.

Two Vanillas

I suppose I should be ashamed that I've got an ice cream blog but I've never posted a recipe for just plain vanilla. Because vanilla shouldn't be overlooked! It's perfect for vegan ice cream sandwiches or for topping your apple pie. So rise up, vanilla! Your day is here!

I'm providing two different vanilla recipes. One is "premium," like all fancy and stuff, and the other is easy and basic and cheaper because vanilla beans can be expensive. Of course, you can use any non-dairy milk in these, even though I've listed soy milk in the recipe. You could even use vanilla-flavored milk for a crazy vanilla experience.

Fancy Pants Vanilla

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1 vanilla bean
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer and soy milk together in a saucepan. Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the milk. Drop the bean shell into the milk too. Bring to a slight boil, then lower the temperature and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean shell. Stir in the sugar, and bring to a boil again. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Lazy Vanilla

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
2 t. vanilla extract (choose a high-quality brand; none of that imitation stuff either!)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Pudding Ice Cream

This is ice cream for only the very lazy. Like Juno:

I suppose it would also be fun for kids, since it's so easy to make. You only need two ingredients, there's no heating, and you can freeze it right away if your non-dairy milk is cold when you mix it. Instant gratification!

Ingredients:
2 boxes instant pudding (many flavors are vegan)
3 cups non-dairy milk or creamer

Add-ins (optional)
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, whatever

Whisk together pudding mix and milk/creamer. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to machine directions.

You're done!

My first experiment with this involved pistachio pudding. Why? Maybe I was nostalgic for those Southern potlucks where at least three different women would bring some variation of pistachio pudding "salad," with little marshmallows and pineapple chunks. Maybe I wanted green ice cream. Maybe my husband really wanted me to. In any case, it was fun and easy. Yup.

Wildwood Soy Creamer

There's a new soy creamer on the market! I love Wildwood soy milk, so I was really excited to see that they're now making a creamer. It was cheaper than Silk soy creamer, too. Rock!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

You might notice that this recipe is different from my others because it doesn’t use arrowroot to thicken the ice cream mixture. The bananas make it so thick and creamy that it wasn’t necessary. So this is perfect if you’re out of arrowroot, or if you don’t have access to a store that sells it! (If this is your first ice cream attempt, you might want to check the General Guidelines and Advice before starting.)

3 ripe bananas
2 c. non-dairy milk or creamer (for a real treat, use coconut milk!)
½ c. brown sugar
½ - ¾ c. peanut butter (depending on how peanutastic you wan this to be)
1 t. vanilla

Peel bananas and place in a blender. Add non-dairy milk/creamer and puree.

Transfer the liquid to a medium-sized sauce pan. Over medium heat, dissolve the brown sugar and peanut butter into the liquid. It will be really thick and creamy at the end!

Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. It will get really thick when it’s refrigerated. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Basil Ice Cream

Basil ice cream? Yes! Check out the Vivacious Vegan blog for her basil ice cream recipe.

Go quickly! Before summer's fresh basil is all gone!

Have you gone yet? What are you waiting for?!

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches!

While there are many excellent pre-made vegan ice cream sandwiches on the market (I'm thinking of Soy Delicious here), how much fun would it be to make your own? Too much fun!

My husband recently bought me ice cream sandwich molds from Williams Sonoma. They are so cute. One is a star, one is a pig, and one is a cow. I like the cow best, because I can say the cow is happy because the sandwiches are vegan! Because, really, animal abuse sucks.

Here are the molds:

If you don't have ice cream sandwich molds--and who does? except me!--you can get creative with cookie cutters. You could even just cut the ends off a short (washed out!) can and use that to pack your sandwich. Just use the back of a spoon to squish the cookie down, then the ice cream, then pack the cookie on top. Maybe cut a round of waxed paper for the top and press down to even it all out. Get creative. I know you can.

Anyway, tonight we made sandwiches for the first time. I used brownies for the cookie part of the sandwich. You could use any kind of cookie you wanted, really. For the filling, we used vanilla ice cream. I was in the mood for something traditional, you know?

Our ice cream was too soft, we discovered, and the sandwiches didn't turn out as pretty as I'd hoped. But they are still tasty. And they look comforting and homemade. That counts for something, right? Here are pictures of our sandwiches:

Here's a picture of what the folks at Williams Sonoma think you can do:

Yeah. Right.

I'm so excited about the prospect of more ice cream sandwiches. I've got so many ideas for cookie/filling combinations. Like...

gingerbread cookie / spiced apple ice cream
brownie / peanut butter ice cream
brownie / raspberry ice cream
brownie / mint chocolate chip ice cream
blondie / chocolate ice cream
blondie / strawberry ice cream
peanut butter cookie / chocolate ice cream
oatmeal cookie / coffee ice cream

The possibilities are endless!

Vegan Brownies

I love nothing more than a caramel ice cream sundae on top of a hot brownie. The ice cream starts to melt into the brownie and everything kind of gets mixed together in delicious mess. I got this recipe off the internet and veganized it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

If you want to make an ice cream with the brownies, I suggest cooling the brownies and cutting them into small chunks, then mixing them into the Cookies and Cream recipe instead of the cookies. Maybe add some chopped walnuts or pecans, and you’ll have Nutty Brownie Ice Cream!

Finally, this recipe also doubles very well. Just bake in a 9 x 13-inch pan for a few more minutes--I find that 37 minutes for a double batch is just perfect. And, really, don't you want more brownies?

½ c. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine, melted
½ c. unsweetened cocoa
1 c. sugar
2 T. flax eggs (see note below)
3 T. soy milk
2 t. vanilla extract
½ c. flour
¼ t. salt
¼ t. baking powder

Add-ins (optional)
½ - ¾ c. chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, whatever

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square pan, or line the baking pan with parchment paper. (I prefer the parchment paper because the bottoms of the brownies are less oily that way.)

In a medium-sized bowl combine melted Earth Balance or margarine and cocoa powder and beat until cocoa is dissolved. Beat in sugar. Beat in flax eggs until the flax is evenly distributed throughout the mix. While beating, add soy milk and vanilla extract a little at a time until it’s all evenly mixed. (I find it’s easiest to use a hand mixer for all of this.)

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture just until no more flour is visible. Do not overmix! (I do this part by hand. It’s too easy to overmix with the hand mixer.)

If using an add-in, fold it in.

Spread in the pan and bake for 27 - 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting—if you have the willpower to resist them while they’re warm and gooey.

Note: While there are many ways to replace eggs in baking, my favorite method is to make “flax eggs.” I recommend making these in bulk; it’s easier that way. Combine 1/3 cup flax seeds with 2/3 cup hot water in a blender. Let sit for 15 minutes, then blend until the mixture is gelatinous in texture and whole flax seeds are no longer visible. One tablespoon of flax eggs equals one egg. However, if you use this egg replacer and you notice that your batter isn’t quite as liquid-y as it seems it should be, add 2 to 3 tablespoons water, soy milk, or other liquid. (This is why I have soy milk in this recipe.) Whatever flax eggs you don’t use will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so you’ll have some on hand for the future. (One tip for using flax eggs is to beat the flax eggs into the oil/liquid before adding dry ingredients, as I have done in this recipe. It helps distribute the magic flax all throughout your batter.)

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

On a recent visit to Maggie Mudd in San Francisco, I tried their “Raspberry Blackout” flavor. It was so amazing that I wanted to make it at home. I used frozen raspberries and Sunspire organic chocolate chips. Other brands of vegan chocolate chips include Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips, Tropical Source chocolate chips, and Trader Joe’s chocolate chips. And Safeway now sells Safeway Organic Chocolate Chips. They're vegan too! (Note: This recipe could easily be adapted to other chocolate-fruit combinations, like chocolate cherry. Just replace the raspberries with the fruit of your choice.)

1½ c. raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. cocoa powder
½ c. vegan chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine ¾ cup raspberries and 1 cup soy creamer in blender. Puree. Strain this liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the raspberry seeds.

Pour the raspberry-creamer liquid into a sauce pan and add the remaining soy creamer, remaining soy milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. Heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate chips melt. Then bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add remaining ¾ cup raspberries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Cookies and Cream

You can use any kind of vegan cookie you like in this recipe, but sandwich cookies are my favorite. The last time I checked, Oreo cookies are vegan, but I've heard this varies from region to region, so you may want to read the package to be sure. My personal favorite sandwich cookie is the "Joe-Joe" from Trader Joe's. They are everything Oreos aspire to be, and they don't contain hydrogenated oil! (Check the General Guidelines and Advice, if you're new to vegan ice cream making!)

2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
½ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla
1 c. chopped cookies

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped cookies in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Tamarind Ice Cream - An Experiment

My husband acquired a taste for tamarind candy in Puerto Rico, where he spent part of his childhood. So I wanted to make tamarind ice cream! This proved to be more difficult than I was originally anticipating, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. But when has that ever stopped me?

That said, this recipe is only an experiment. The result was delicious. However, there are probably better and/or easier ways to make tamarind ice cream. For example, tamarind syrup (which I couldn't find in stores but is available on the internet) could make things much easier because then you could formulate a recipe without the tamarind mash that I made from tamarind pulp. But here's what I did. (General Guidelines and Advice found here.)

Tamarind Ice Cream

1/2 c. + 2 T tamarind mash (see recipe below)
2 c. soy creamer (note: this would also be really good with coconut milk too!)
1 1/2 c. soy milk
1 c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine tamarind mash with soy creamer in a sauce pan. Whisk together over medium heat. If, like I did, you find that your tamarind mash has some fibrous bits floating around in the liquid, pour the mixture through a strainer to remove those tough pieces. Return the liquid to the sauce pan.

Add the remaining soy milk and sugar. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Tamarind Mash

1/2 c. seedless tamarind pulp*
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. lime juice
1 c. + 2 T. water

Combine the tamarind pulp, sugar, lime, and 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan. Heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir in about 1/4 cup water at a time; this will make mixing easier. After all the water is mixed in, transfer the mash to a blender and puree (be careful with the steam!).

This makes about 1 1/4 cups of tamarind mash, more than you'll need for the above ice cream recipe. You can save the rest of the mash and mix it with water and sugar for aqua de tamarindo!

* I bought a package of seedless tamarind pulp at a local Indian grocery store. You could also buy tamarind pods and scrape out the pulp and remove the seeds. Indian, Thai, or Hispanic stores are good places to find tamarinds.

Vegan Whipped Cream

I've tried a variety of vegan whipped toppings in the past. I've made my own with tofu and lemon juice and other stuff, and it was OK, but not at all like whipped cream. Most vegan cookbooks with a dessert section have a recipe like this.

Then there's the Lucerne-brand non-dairy dessert topping at Safeway. It's basically hydrogenated oil that somehow resembles whipped cream, but is obviously full of trans fat and leaves you feeling dirty afterwards. It'll do in a pinch, and if you're looking for it, it'll be in the dairy case next to the canned whipped cream. It's the kind that's propelled by nitrous oxide--you know, laughing gas. (In college, I worked in the dining hall, and a friend of mine would take all the used cans of whipped cream and inhale the nitrous. He also snorted a crushed Vivarin once. And MSG. He snorted straight-up MSG. Later he passed out and woke up with a horrible headache. I wouldn't recommend this to y'all.)

OK. Enough college tales.

My point in this entry is that there is now a really good vegan whipped cream: Soyatoo Soy Whip! It looks and tastes like actual whipped cream. Nick bought it for me at Food Fight, a vegan grocery store in Portland. You can buy it from them on their website.

Double Pretzel Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Alana Graziano in Santa Cruz, CA, emailed this recipe to me. My freezer is stuffed right now, so I haven’t made this yet, but it sounds wonderful!

I imagine you could use unflavored soy creamer (or soy milk) instead of French vanilla creamer and add in a tablespoon or so (maybe more) of vanilla to get the same effect. Alana also suggested increasing the amount of peanut butter you use, if you want a bigger PB taste.

2 c. French vanilla soy creamer
1 1/2 c. vanilla soy milk
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
2 T. arrowroot
approx. 1 c. chopped peanut-butter-covered pretzels and chocolate-covered pretzels

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat. When hot, whisk in peanut butter so it is thoroughly incorporated. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped pretzels in the last five minutes of freezing.

Mango Coconut Ice Cream

I've finally gotten around to posting a coconut-based ice cream! I usually use half light coconut milk and half full-fat coconut milk, but you could use all of either one or the other, depending on how health-conscious you are. And if you feel guilty for eating so much coconut fat, just tell yourself that the mango makes it healthy. Yeah...I like the sound of that. P.S. If you don't know how to peel or chop a mango, check out this page.

3 cups coconut milk
1 c. sugar
2 c. mango chunks (½ -inch square or smaller)
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot

Mix ¼ cup of the coconut milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Puree half of the mango chunks.

Combine the pureed mango, remaining coconut milk, sugar, and lime together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped peaches in the last five minutes of freezing.

Peach Ice Cream

Fresh peaches are one of summer’s delights. To learn how to easily peel peaches, click here. Then take those peeled peaches and make ice cream! (Almonds and peaches go well together, which is why I included optional almond extract. You could also add a half cup of chopped almonds at the end, if you wanted.) And for general ice cream advice, click here.

2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
3/4 c. sugar
4 - 5 peaches, pealed and chopped
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract (optional)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Puree half of the chopped peaches.

Combine the pureed peaches, soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and almond extract (if desired).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped peaches in the last five minutes of freezing.

Strawberry Ice Cream

It's been terribly hot for the last week or so, and I wanted a delicate ice cream to cool off with. I had some amazing organic strawberries in my fridge, so I came up with this recipe. While organic strawberries are quite a bit more expensive, I tend to think they're worth the cost. Check your local farmer's market; they're usually a lot cheaper there! (As always, you might want to read the General Guidelines and Advice before starting!)

1½ - 2 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)
2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Slice one cup of the strawberries and set aside.

Combine the remaining strawberries, soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar together in a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add sliced strawberries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Vegan Caramel Sauce

I wanted to bake a dessert that called for caramel sauce, but all of the brands at the store contained dairy. What's a girl to do? Make her own!

(Note: This is a caramel sauce--not hard caramel--and is thick but pourable at room temperature. I recommend storing it in the fridge and heating it up to drizzle over ice cream, vegan cheesecake, apple slices, and more!)

1/2 c. (1 stick) Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. soy creamer or soy milk
2 T. arrowroot

Combine 1/4 cup soy creamer with the arrowroot. Set aside.

Melt the Earth Balance in a saucepan. Stir in brown sugar. Add remaining 1/2 cup soy creamer. Bring liquid to a boil and boil for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Take the pan off the heat and immediately add arrowroot slurry. The liquid should thicken quickly.

Pour over ice cream! Or store in fridge for up to one week.

Suggestions Welcome!

I bet you love ice cream as much as I do. I mean, what's not to love? Unless you're some kind of freak. And you're not. Unless you're the good kind of freak, which would be OK, but then you'd like ice cream, right?

Anyway. Since this blog is all about vegan ice cream recipes, I'd love you to send me your submissions! I'll publish them and give you credit, of course.

Similarly, if you have any requests, send 'em on. I'll do my best to invent an ice cream recipe to match. The catch is that it has to be vegan and cannot contain cashews, because I'm allergic. Can't even touch them without breaking out in hives. So don't bother sending a request for cow-milk ice cream with bacon and cashews.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

2 c. soy creamer
2 c. soy milk
3 T. Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla
½ c. chopped pecans (toasted pecans are especially nice)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, Earth Balance, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools). Stir in the vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped pecans during the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I like adding the food coloring to give it that unnatural green color. (General Guidelines and Advice for vegan ice cream creations.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 1/4 c. soy milk
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 1/2 t. peppermint extract
1/2 t. vanilla extract
a few drops green food coloring (optional)
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in the peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and food coloring (if desired).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

It's like pumpkin pie in ice cream form. (Check out my General Guidelines and Advice before starting.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. brown sugar
1 c. cooked, mashed pumpkin (homemade or canned; see note below)
1 ½ t. pumpkin pie spice
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, brown sugar, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Note: If you cook your own pumpkin, be sure to use a sugar pie pumpkin or other cooking pumpkin. Jack o'lantern pumpkins are cool for Halloween, but don't make for good eatin'. They're flavorless, watery, and stringy.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

This is perhaps my favorite homemade ice cream. It's thick and creamy and oh-so-sinful. But it also has blueberries in it, so you can pretend it's good for you. (It's a good idea to check out my General Guidelines and Advice before starting to cook.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 c. vegan cream cheese (approx. 8-ounce container Tofutti)
¾ c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
½ c. soy milk
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/8 c. sugar
splash lemon juice

Combine soy creamer, cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Heat and mix contents. It will take some whisking to break up the cream cheese and get it to dissolve. While heating, combine the ½ cup soy milk and 2 tablespoons arrowroot and set aside. Once the pan’s contents are boiling, take from heat and add soy milk–arrowroot mixture. The liquid should thicken quickly. Add vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.

Combine blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat until boiling and some blueberries have burst. Set aside to cool.

Freeze cream cheese mixture according to ice cream maker instructions. Add blueberries 5 minutes before end of freezing cycle.

Molasses Ice Cream

This is one of the first ice creams I experimented with. My husband loves molasses, so I thought I'd make this just for him. Personally, I don't much care for it, but if you like molasses, this should be just the thing for you. Before you begin, you might want to check out my General Guidelines and Advice.

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 ¼ c. soy milk
½ c. regular molasses
¼ c. blackstrap molasses
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and molasses together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

General Guidelines and Advice

1) Amounts. My ice cream maker, like many on the market, holds just over one quart of finished ice cream. Therefore you’ll find that my recipes make roundabouts one quart of frozen delight. To achieve this, you’ll need to have your ingredients add up to about one quart. For example, four cups of soy milk plus sweeteners and flavors; two cups soy milk, one and a half cups soy creamer, and one-half cup of nuts, plus sweeteners and flavors. You get the picture.

I’m not always right at one quart, but usually pretty close. If it looks like your one-quart ice cream maker is about to overflow when you put in the ingredients I call for, just downsize a little.

2) What kind of “milk”? Since this is vegan ice cream, you have a lot of leeway in what you use. You can use soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, oat, coconut, or whatever non-dairy milk you like. If I’m making a coconut ice cream, I always use coconut milk. Otherwise, I generally use a combination of soy milk and soy creamer. The soy creamer adds a some extra fat, which makes richer ice cream. If you want really rich ice cream, use all soy creamer. Or make a coconut ice cream with full-fat coconut milk and swoon with fatty delight. If you want low-fat, go for all soy milk. You could even use reduced fat soy milk if you wanted. Remember, though, the less fat the ice cream has, the less rich it is likely to be. Health vs. taste. Why is life so hard?

3) Arrowroot. Arrowroot is a starch that you can use to thicken sauces, pies, or (in this case) ice cream. You can probably find it in most health food stores in either the baking or spice department. I recommend buying it in the bulk section because it’s probably cheapest that way.

Arrowroot is a tricky ingredient. You must heat it to activate the thickening powers, but if it gets too hot, you kill the magic and you get not thickening. I’ve worked out a way to get this perfect every time, though.

First, mix the arrowroot with about ¼ cup of the milk you’re using. Set this aside. You’ll be heating the rest of the non-dairy and dissolving the sugar into it. Let this liquid come to a boil, then take it off the heat and immediately pour in the arrowroot slurry. Stir it so the mixture gets even distributed. You should feel the thickening effects of the arrowroot almost immediately. It’ll be even more obvious when the liquid cools down (which you have to let it do before you put it into your ice cream maker).

4) Other recipes. I should note that there is an entire book of vegan ice cream recipes called Vice Cream. I haven’t purchased the book because the recipes frequently call for cashew nuts/cashew milk as the liquid base, and I’m allergic to cashews. As much as I love ice cream, I love continuing to live even more.

Commercially Available Vegan Ice Cream

While my blog is mostly about making your own vegan ice cream, you can get some really great flavors already made. I like making my own because I can make whatever flavor I want (even molasses ice cream for my husband), and because for a few dollars in ingredients I can get a quart of ice cream, instead of a little pint.

You can find vegan ice cream in almost any health store, and in some grocery stores. The most popular kinds are made from soy milk, though Rice Dream is made from rice milk (you’d never guess from the name, right?). Sorbet is almost always vegan.

Some common brands of vegan ice cream include: Soy Dream, Rice Dream, Whole Soy (you must try the crème caramel flavor!), Soy Delicious (which is now being marketed as So Delicious in some flavors), and Tofutti. My personal favorites are the Whole Soy pints and the Soy Delicious Purely Decadent pints. The Soy Delicious Li’l Buddies ice cream sandwiches are also wonderful.

If you are lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you absolutely must make a visit to Maggie Mudd’s. They have about twenty flavors of amazing vegan ice cream. They’ll make you a sundae, a milkshake, whatever.

I gots me a blog!

Wow! I have a blog! I feel so modern, as the kids say nowadays. OK, so kids nowadays probably say something totally different, but I wouldn't know because I am TOTALLY UNCOOL.

What's important, though, is that however uncool I may be, I can still make good ice cream.

Summer is firmly here and it's time to cool down with some rich, creamy ice cream. Vegan ice cream, to be precise, so as to avoid all that pesky animal cruelty.