I’m on a mission this summer to do some amazing things with my ice cream maker. For someone who can’t eat dairy, soy or sugar, you’d think ice cream would be impossible. Well I thought that too before I tasted Coconut Bliss ice cream…(truly blissful and possibly even better than dairy ice cream). And that got me to thinking of how to make it myself, of course. I am fortunate to have found an ice cream maker at a garage sale but there are other methods to freeze the ice cream if you don’t have one on hand. It has something to do with a bucket of ice and salt, but I’m not sure of the specifics.

Here is #1 in what I hope to be a series of Emily-friendly (vegan, soy-free, cane-sugar free) ice creams this summer!

• 3 cups / 2 cans of unsweetened coconut milk (as high a fat content as you can find)*
• 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes

Instructions:

1. Try and buy the kinds of coconut milk that separate (i.e. fat rises to the top). When you open the can, pour off some of the watery stuff and set aside (1/4 cup from each can). This will help make your ice cream creamier and give it less of an icy texture if you freeze it to harden.
2. Blend coconut milk, agave, and vanilla until smooth. Taste for appropriate flavour/texture/sweetness and adjust if needed
3. Manually stir or quickly blend in the toasted coconut
4. Remove your ice cream freezer bowl from freezer and place in ice cream maker. Turn on.
5. Slowly pour the mixture into the bowl as it rotates.
6. Keep it rotating/freezing for about 15minutes. Keep an eye on it to ensure even freezing; you may need to give it a helping hand with a wooden spoon/rubber spatula.
7. Once it gets to a thick frozen texture (not hard), stop the machine and scoop the soft ice cream into a container such as a yogurt tub and place in freezer to further harden.
8. You can eat this right away (soft) or keep till fully hardened. If you do that latter, then you may want to thaw it for a few minutes prior to scooping to soften it a bit.
9. Enjoy the deliciousness of what you just created!!! So much better and cheaper than $6/tinytub in the store.