But how do you get creaminess without the cream?
You'd be surprised what cashews can do, baby! This isn't an original concept as many a dairy free souls have discovered the value of nuts as an ice cream base, but I'm all about spreading the love. This is a great vegan ice cream to fool dairy fans, and it's divine with a dollop of peanut butter on top.
Psst, if you're curious about the stuff that looks like marshmallow fluff stuff, that's Bryanna Clark Grogan's marshie fluff (thanks, Bryanna). Talk about fun to make. Talk about sugar high. Talk about... well, I think vegans could talk about marshmallow fluff quite a lot, come to think of it.
Recipe Notes
Okay, so I've got one of those annoying frozen drink blenders and the base is pretty much permanently sealed on. This means there's always a whole load of liquid I can't get out, especially if it's a thick blend like this is. Here's a tip: reserve 60ml (¼ cup) of the soy milk and after you've poured the ice cream base out, chuck the remaining liquid in and swish around to help get the rest of the mix out.
Oh, and if you've got a blender which errs on the side of shite and you hate lumpy bits then you can strain the base to filter out any potential cashew hanger-onners.
Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream
- Directions/Method
- Grind the cashew to as fine a powder (or paste) as possible in a grinder. If you don't have one, soak the cashews in hot water for half an hour or for a few hours (overnight even) in the soy milk in order to soften them so they blend smoothly (if you have a vitamix, obviously you can blend diamonds to a fine powder in .000001 seconds, so you can ignore this).
- In a blender, combine the cashew with all other ingredients and blend until smooth, a couple of minutes. Refrigerate until cold (it will thicken considerably). You can eliminate the alcohol if you'd like, but I always recommend it for home freezers because it helps to keep homemade ice cream softer (commercial freezers circulate air better so it's less of an issue).
- Use the mix as per your ice cream maker's instructions and freeze.