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!)
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.
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
Ingredients
- 200 grams blackcurrants
- 60 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp creme de cassis
- 400 ml 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
Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home, for now. One eye is always on the horizon.
Claire says
This was really delicious! Didn’t use the liquor but it turned out fine. Thanks for a great recipe!
Alison MacDonald says
This looks so yummy going to have to give it a go 🙂
Paul Wilson says
Looks great!
kayleigh white says
Very tasty!
Rachael Cunliffe says
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!
Laura Cooper says
I’ll have to try this next time my vegan sister-in-law comes round.
Pam Francis Gregory says
Fantastic recipe – Love Blackcurrant!
Farhana says
Thank you for the recipe
Sam Williams says
I’ve never tried a vegan ice cream, I’ll have to give this a go
rebecca nisbet says
im not a vegan, but i wouldnt mind trying this
Emily @amummytoo says
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 🙂
Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes says
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 🙂
Honest Mum says
Wow, love everything about this! Just dreamy! Ever want to move in?! Ha! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Otilia says
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
Elizabeth says
Thank you 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about the foodie challenge too – I love foodie challenges! 😀
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes says
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
Elizabeth says
Ooh you’re going to have a lot of fun with that! 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you make!
Michelle says
WOW that looks yummy. We went to a pick your own farm yesterday & have loads of blackberries………guess what I want to make!
Elizabeth says
Ooh this would work really well with blackberries too, I reckon. Love fresh blackberries!
sustainablemum says
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?
Elizabeth says
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.
Kate @ Veggie Desserts says
I love banana ice creams and yours sounds great. I love the thought of cassis. 20 degree heatwave, ha! 🙂
Elizabeth says
One does acclimatise! 😀
Helen B says
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!
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Love love love the use of blackcurrant in combination with coconut ice cream. Sounds amazing!
Paul Wilson says
That looks very tasty indeed.
catherine says
I’ve got loads of blackcurrants in the freezer, know what to do with them now 🙂
Elizabeth says
Let me know how you get on! 🙂 I’ve loads of blackcurrants in my deep freeze too leftover from last season.
Caroline Hooper (My Family Ties) says
That looks very moorish and love the styling on the photos 🙂 #tastytuesdays
Elizabeth says
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!
Camilla @FabFood4All says
I can almost taste this, looks and sounds totally lush, I’ll bet it didn’t last long in your house:-)
Kavey says
Isn’t it lovely when a recipe turns out even better than you hoped? 🙂
Emma | Fork and Good says
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.
Sonia Constant says
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.
Jenny says
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
Corina says
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.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I love ice cream that is made with coconut milk – can’t beat it.
Great photos too 🙂
Elizabeth says
I’m only new to this wonderful world of coconut milk ice cream – I am firmly a convert!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Wow, that looks so yummy! x #tastytuesdays
Elizabeth says
Thanks Kirsty 🙂
Heather Haigh says
Sounds delicious. I have been on the lookout for some ice-cream recipes using coconut milk. This looks perfect. #TastyTuesdays.
Elizabeth says
Thanks Heather 🙂 I would highly recommend Aimee’s coconut milk ice cream book – filled with inspiration!
Heather Haigh says
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!
Elizabeth says
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.
Holly says
Looks so yummy good! Vegan too, which is a bonus!
Elizabeth says
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!