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Vegan Blackcurrant Ripple Ice Cream

Published on August 5, 2014 • Last updated January 28, 2019 by Elizabeth
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Vegan Blackcurrant Ripple Ice Cream by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

My electric ice cream machine died last year. It was a gruesome death, with it’s bright blue coolant slowly leaking out all over the contents of my deep freeze. This was the second time this ice cream maker death occurred in my freezer. The first time it happened the company replaced the bowl free of charge, but the same thing happened again. I’ve lost faith in electric ice cream makers and haven’t yet replaced it with another brand.

My experience so far with no churn ice creams has been fairly limited. Whipping cream/condensed milk ice cream is very delicious and easy to make (like my mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream), but it’s heavy on the calories which, for some reason, have a great fondness for sticking to my bottom and refusing to move. So I’ve been avoiding that method.

Then there’s the quick banana ice cream: blitz frozen banana chunks up in the food processor until thick and creamy for a quick, no junk treat. It’s very banana-y which is fine if you love bananas (like me) but not if you don’t (the husband). I sometimes drizzle some double cream into the food processor while the bananas are pulsing and then stir in chunks of dark chocolate and walnuts; a sort of healthy chunky monkey (I really ought to blog that recipe!)

Vegan Blackcurrant Ripple Ice Cream by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

Then, the lovely Aimee over at Wallflowergirl introduced me to the fantastic world of coconut milk ice creams. After my first taste of her Mayan Chocolate recipe, I was hooked, and I throw several tins of coconut milk into my shopping trolley now when I do a supermarket shop. Coconut milk imparts a lovely creamy texture to the vegan ice creams, and it’s a fairly neutral flavour so it can be easily tailored to your liking.

Shetland was recently hit by a hit wave. For a whole week, we had glorious sunshine and temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius (that’s a heatwave by Shetland standards!). Ice cream was required.

Vegan Blackcurrant Ripple Ice Cream by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

A quick look in the fridge revealed two punnets of gorgeous Shetland blackcurrants grown by my veg box supplier on the west side of Shetland. I knew there were three bananas broken into one-inch segments in the deep freeze and a cupboard containing several tins of coconut milk.

An idea was born!

I’m rather pleased how well this ice cream turned out. I deliberately kept the sugar quantity low as I didn’t want to mask the tartness of the fresh berries. Crème de cassis was added to stop the blackcurrant ripples from freezing into ice crystals, as often happens when fruit purées are stirred into an ice cream base. You can taste the banana, slightly, but the predominant flavour is blackcurrant. The children kept coming back asking for their bowls to be refilled and as children are honest critics I knew I was on to a winner.

You might also be interested in my other ice cream recipes. You might also like, if you have a glut of blackcurrants, my friend Jane’s blackcurrant cordial recipe. Homemade Ribena, yes please!

Vegan Blackcurrant Ripple Ice Cream

Ribbons of delicious blackcurrant purée in a banana and coconut milk base.
5 from 2 votes
Print Rate
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 12 hours hours 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Elizabeth

Ingredients

  • 200 grams blackcurrants
  • 60 grams granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp creme de cassis
  • 400 ml full fat coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
  • 300 grams frozen bananas (about 3 bananas)
  • 75 grams caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract I use Neilson Massey
  • icing sugar to serve, optional

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Instructions 

  • Combine blackcurrants and granulated sugar in a small saucepan. There is no need to add any water as the berries should be juicy enough.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
  • When cooled, purée the mixture and stir in the crème de cassis. Cover and chill in the fridge until needed.
  • Dissolve the arrowroot powder in 80 ml coconut milk and set aside for 15 minutes to thicken.
  • Stir the remaining coconut milk and caster sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
  • Add the arrowroot mixture and, stirring continuously, bring the coconut milk to a boil. It will quickly thicken.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.
  • Place bananas into a food processor and pulse until it is thick and creamy. This will take a few moments and it will go through several stages (big chunks, little chunks, etc.) before it gets there. Persevere.
  • When bananas are creamy, add the chilled coconut milk mixture and pulse until thoroughly combined. Check the bottom of the bowl to make sure no bananas are stuck to the bottom.
  • Transfer mixture to a freezer-proof container or, if your food processor base is plastic like mine, pop the whole thing into the freezer, covered with a tea towel.
  • Freeze for one hour and then pop the bowl back onto the processor base and process again. Repeat every hour for three or four hours until the mixture is thick, creamy and resembles a soft scoop ice cream.
  • Transfer half the ice cream mixture into a freezer-proof container, smoothing over the top. Pour over half the blackcurrant purée, top with the remaining coconut milk base and finish with a layer of the remaining blackcurrant purée.
  • Using a palette knife weave figure of eight lines through all four layers of the mixture, taking care not to over blend. You will end up with lovely blackcurrant ripples through the coconut milk base.
  • Freeze overnight. Allow to soften for ten minutes before serving dusted with icing sugar.

 

OTHER VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Cauliflower and Chocolate Ice Lollies with Pistachio Dust by Veggie Desserts
Food Processor Banana Ice Cream by Fuss Free Flavours
Jungle Juice Sorbet by Kavey Eats
Salted Caramel Ice Cream by Wallflower Girl
2 Minute Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream by Hungry, Healthy, Happy
3 Minute Raspberry Ice Cream by Maison Cupcake

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Category: Ice Cream Recipes, RecipeTag: Coconut Milk, Vegan

About Elizabeth

Solivagant. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

Previous Post:Chicken with Apples
Next Post:Moroccan Lamb Stew

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Claire

    June 23, 2020 at 9:35 am

    5 stars
    This was really delicious! Didn’t use the liquor but it turned out fine. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
  2. Alison MacDonald

    April 26, 2015 at 10:06 am

    This looks so yummy going to have to give it a go 🙂

    Reply
  3. Paul Wilson

    January 27, 2015 at 1:54 am

    Looks great!

    Reply
  4. kayleigh white

    January 12, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    Very tasty!

    Reply
  5. Rachael Cunliffe

    January 7, 2015 at 11:16 pm

    I’m a big fan of coconut milk ice creams, I’m still not sold on the addition of banana in this though, I may be forced to put my money where my mouth is and try it though!

    Reply
  6. Laura Cooper

    November 22, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    I’ll have to try this next time my vegan sister-in-law comes round.

    Reply
  7. Pam Francis Gregory

    November 16, 2014 at 10:07 am

    Fantastic recipe – Love Blackcurrant!

    Reply
  8. Farhana

    October 31, 2014 at 8:06 am

    Thank you for the recipe

    Reply
    • Ellie B

      May 17, 2021 at 9:01 pm

      5 stars
      Delicious, I christened my new ice-cream maker with your recipe! I was a bit too lazy to do the layering so did an “all in one” method. Heated the blackcurrants, sugar and cornflour(no arrowroot!) Until it thickened, then added in the coconut milk to melt. Cooled off it all, added I’m bananas and popped in the ice-cream maker. Delicious!!!

      Reply
  9. Sam Williams

    September 28, 2014 at 6:05 pm

    I’ve never tried a vegan ice cream, I’ll have to give this a go

    Reply
  10. rebecca nisbet

    September 23, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    im not a vegan, but i wouldnt mind trying this

    Reply
  11. Emily @amummytoo

    August 28, 2014 at 9:55 am

    Absolutely stunning and a good excuse to get my food processor out 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. Sorry I was particularly slow getting over for this one. I’ve pinned it to my food board and a tweet will go out shortly 🙂

    Reply
  12. Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes

    August 13, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    I’ve never made ice cream as I always thought I’d only use an ice cream maker a handful of times if I splashed out and bought one so I never bothered. Glad to see that it can be done with a food processor and my processor just happens to be plastic. I will have to try this out. Love the sound of using coconut milk for a change too 🙂

    Reply
  13. Honest Mum

    August 10, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    Wow, love everything about this! Just dreamy! Ever want to move in?! Ha! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays

    Reply
  14. Otilia

    August 10, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Oh my your ice cream looks so yum!

    PS: I run a #Fridayfoodie linky on my blog if you fancy linking up you can join in here http://romanianmum.com/2014/08/ice-cream-round-up.html

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 10, 2014 at 5:07 pm

      Thank you 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about the foodie challenge too – I love foodie challenges! 😀

      Reply
  15. Lucy @SupergoldenBakes

    August 10, 2014 at 10:18 am

    I just got an ice cream machine (a very basic one) but haven’t had a chance to try it out yet! This looks delicious – keep meaning to make blackcurrant ice cream but only managed to stash the berries in the freezer thus far! Thanks for joining #CookBlogShare

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 10, 2014 at 11:55 am

      Ooh you’re going to have a lot of fun with that! 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you make!

      Reply
  16. Michelle

    August 10, 2014 at 8:21 am

    WOW that looks yummy. We went to a pick your own farm yesterday & have loads of blackberries………guess what I want to make!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 10, 2014 at 9:11 am

      Ooh this would work really well with blackberries too, I reckon. Love fresh blackberries!

      Reply
  17. sustainablemum

    August 8, 2014 at 11:40 am

    This sounds delicious but I would not be able to eat it with the cassis in. I have lots of blackcurrants and would love to make this, would it taste/look awful if I left the cassis out? Or is there anything else I could add, non alcoholic, to do the same job?

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 8, 2014 at 2:16 pm

      I don’t think it would look or taste much different without the cassis – that’s only there to lower the freezing temperature so that the puree doesn’t form ice crystals. I’m not sure what non-alcoholic ingredient could also do that – salt? 🙂 I’m sure it would work without, just leave it sit for awhile longer before eating so it can soften a bit.

      Reply
  18. Kate @ Veggie Desserts

    August 7, 2014 at 10:31 am

    I love banana ice creams and yours sounds great. I love the thought of cassis. 20 degree heatwave, ha! 🙂

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 7, 2014 at 10:33 am

      One does acclimatise! 😀

      Reply
  19. Helen B

    August 6, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    My ice cream machine also died the same horrible death. Only our coolant was clear and I thought my bottle of limoncello had leaked until I tasted it! (I’d got it on my fingers and had thought nothing of licking them!) I was going to complain to Magimix but my husband threw the base out so I’ve got nothing to prove it. I’ve really been missing it especially with the weather we’ve been having.

    One of our favourite recipes is a coconut, blueberry and lime one we found on BBC Good Food, although if I remember correctly it has normal cream as well as coconut.

    Anyway, got another hankering for ice cream now I’ve seen your photos so think I’ll have to give this a try!

    Reply
  20. Kate - gluten free alchemist

    August 6, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    Love love love the use of blackcurrant in combination with coconut ice cream. Sounds amazing!

    Reply
  21. Paul Wilson

    August 6, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    That looks very tasty indeed.

    Reply
  22. catherine

    August 6, 2014 at 11:50 am

    I’ve got loads of blackcurrants in the freezer, know what to do with them now 🙂

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 6, 2014 at 11:56 am

      Let me know how you get on! 🙂 I’ve loads of blackcurrants in my deep freeze too leftover from last season.

      Reply
  23. Caroline Hooper (My Family Ties)

    August 5, 2014 at 10:33 pm

    That looks very moorish and love the styling on the photos 🙂 #tastytuesdays

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 6, 2014 at 7:28 am

      Thanks Caroline – it was a bit of a mad rush taking the photographs as it was so bright, sunny and warm and the kids were demanding ice cream! I’m quite pleased how well they turned out. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  24. Camilla @FabFood4All

    August 5, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    I can almost taste this, looks and sounds totally lush, I’ll bet it didn’t last long in your house:-)

    Reply
  25. Kavey

    August 5, 2014 at 5:11 pm

    Isn’t it lovely when a recipe turns out even better than you hoped? 🙂

    Reply
  26. Emma | Fork and Good

    August 5, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    Thanks for posting this! I haven’t got an ice cream maker and it’s been driving me mad seeing loads of recipes for them! Love the addition of bananas.

    Reply
  27. Sonia Constant

    August 5, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    I am so excited to try this recipe, I love raspberry ripple and I have blackcurrants growing in the garden – so a great adaptation of my fav. It looks like I could do this too. I have always thought ice cream is really difficult to make, unless you have just made it look easy of course.

    Great photos.

    Reply
  28. Jenny

    August 5, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    This sounds so good. I have never made ice cream before but I think I might be able to handle this one. lol I love blackcurrants too. So yummy. Great flavor combo and if the kids came back for more that’s a sure ticket to a winner!!! #tastytuesdays

    Reply
  29. Corina

    August 5, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    This looks and sounds lovely. I’ve been making a lot of ice cream recently but haven’t used coconut milk to make one yet so that’s definitely something I’m going to incorporate into one of my next recipes.

    Reply
  30. Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy

    August 5, 2014 at 11:20 am

    I love ice cream that is made with coconut milk – can’t beat it.

    Great photos too 🙂

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 5, 2014 at 11:44 am

      I’m only new to this wonderful world of coconut milk ice cream – I am firmly a convert!

      Reply
  31. Kirsty Hijacked By Twins

    August 5, 2014 at 11:13 am

    Wow, that looks so yummy! x #tastytuesdays

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 5, 2014 at 11:16 am

      Thanks Kirsty 🙂

      Reply
  32. Heather Haigh

    August 5, 2014 at 10:55 am

    Sounds delicious. I have been on the lookout for some ice-cream recipes using coconut milk. This looks perfect. #TastyTuesdays.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 5, 2014 at 11:01 am

      Thanks Heather 🙂 I would highly recommend Aimee’s coconut milk ice cream book – filled with inspiration!

      Reply
      • Heather Haigh

        August 26, 2014 at 8:25 am

        I have just bought the coconut milk ice-cream book. Had a quick look through and I’m really looking forward to making some, loads of flavours to choose from. Although today is more a porridge day – brrrr – in August!

        Reply
        • Elizabeth

          August 26, 2014 at 8:27 am

          She’s done such a fab job with that book – I was really impressed with it. So glad you’ve got your own copy and happy coconut milk ice cream making to you! 😀 Know what you mean about the weather though… bbrrr.. winter is definitely in the air.

          Reply
  33. Holly

    August 5, 2014 at 11:11 am

    Looks so yummy good! Vegan too, which is a bonus!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 5, 2014 at 11:16 am

      Thanks Holly 🙂 I’m trying to incorporate more fruit and veg in our diet and less animal products, so discovering coconut milk makes a delicious ice cream was a key moment in my cooking inspiration!

      Reply
5 from 2 votes

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Cooking up a storm at the edge of the world

Image of Elizabeth Atia making a cake in the Aald Harbour Hoose, Shetland. Photograph by Misa Hay from Shetland Wool Adventures.

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