My partner, a lifelong chocolate devotee, loves this vegan chocolate ice cream. It's got a hefty fatty texture and bold cocoa flavour.
Jump to:
I first posted this recipe in 2010 and now, in 2026 (eff me, time flies), I'm updated it to be less faffy and more straightforward.
You might be surprised by how much body cashews add to ice cream. This isn't an original concept as many a dairy free soul has discovered the value of nuts as an ice cream base, but I'm all about spreading the love. If you love dense, rich chocolate treats, this recipe is for you.
I love this chocolate ice cream topped with Bryanna Clark Grogan's marshie fluff (thanks, Bryanna). It requires a specialist ingredient called VersaWhip 600k, but it's easy to work with and makes incredibly stable foams, with a greater strength than aquafaba and egg whites.
Vegan chocolate ice cream
Ingredients
- 350 millilitres water
- 150 grams cashews very heaped 1 cup
- 25 grams cocoa powder ¼ cup
- 100 grams sugar
- 14 grams liquid glucose 2 teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Blend around 300 millilitres of the water, cashews, and cocoa powder in a high powered (preferably vortex style) blender until smooth and lump free. If your blender isn't very powerful, you may find it helpful to soak the cashews for a few hours first.
- Tip the contents of the blender into a saucepan. Add the remaining water to the blender jug and give it a swish around to release the rest of the mix, which you'll also add to the saucepan. Add the sugar.
- Turn the heat to medium and stir constantly with a silicone spatula. The mixture will thicken considerably after a few minutes, at which point turn the heat off, add the glucose syrup and vanilla, cover, and leave to cool. Don't worry if it's lumpy.
- Once the mixture is no longer piping hot, transfer to the fridge, covered. Leave for several hours or overnight until completely chilled.
- Churn per your ice cream maker's instructions.
Jennifer says
Yum! I've read about cashews being a great base for ice cream. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe!
Ella says
YUMMY! I referenced this recipe on my blog today 😉
Kip says
Thanks, Ella! You rule 🙂
Kimberly says
I searched Google for vegan ice cream recipes.  I just made yours and it was uh-may-zing!  OMG!  So incredible and even my husband who has never cared for a single non-dairy ice cream I've brought home from the store LOVED it!  He said it was "top notch."  I used Silk Chocolate Soymilk, Dutch Cocoa, skipped the maple syrup because I didn't have any but I didn't double the agave.  I used coconut butter instead of oil.  Next time, I will be quadrupling this recipe.  I cannot say enough how awesome this was!
Kip says
Whoa, thanks for such a glowing review! I'm glad it worked out for you. The base is really easy to play around with for other flavours, too. Or if you want mocha just add a bit of instant coffee or a shot of espresso if you've got an espresso machine. I need to try it with peanut butter swirls too...
Devorah says
Thanks for this recipe - it was perfect! I made it with my kids and I just love that I didn't have to use heavy cream or sugar - I feel so much better about feeding this to my kids than all the other ice cream recipes I found. Thank you!! (and I wonder - you think a small amount of vodka is ok with kids? I did put a drop, but less than you said, because I think that's such a great tip on how to keep the ice cream soft).
Kip says
Glad it worked out well! I'm personally okay with that small amount of alcohol and children, but if it's a concern you could always just remove the ice cream from the freezer 20-30 minutes before serving. Just stick it in the fridge when you serve dinner and it should soften up enough to scoop by dessert time!
Rock-hippy says
I dont like chocolate ice cream but really want to try homemade vegan ice cream, as i'm not a big fan of store bought.
Is there something else i could use instead of the cocoa powder?!
Kip says
This, like most of my recipes, is fairly forgiving... so you can be pretty experimental. Fruit, flavourings... I couldn't give exact measurements but I've made variants of this a million times with all sorts of different ingredients and they have rarely ended in disaster!
nükhet kuzuoğlu says
i ll make it without spirit and use hazelnut oil instead of coconut oil. i havent use it before.
I reserve the right to improve malicious and trollish comments.