Rich And Creamy Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
Rich and creamy vegan chocolate ice cream - this is the creamiest vegan chocolate ice cream with no hint of iciness and a rich chocolate flavour. Made with cashews and coconut milk for the smoothest, most decadent texture. NO bananas!
Servings 10 people
Ingredients
- 120 g (¾ cup) cashews
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 400 ml (14oz) full fat coconut milk (tinned, NOT the drinking variety)
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ tsp instant espresso powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g (1 cup) caster sugar (or granulated)
- 170 g (6 oz) dark chocolate chopped
- 1 Tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)* optional, see notes below
Instructions
- Cover the cashews in boiling water and set aside to soak for at least half an hour then drain. (You can also soak them in cold water overnight instead).
- Place the soaked cashews in a blender along with the 250ml water and blend until smooth.
- Add the coconut milk, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt and vanilla extract and continue to blend until it is completely smooth. There should be no hint of grittiness if you rub some of the mixture between your fingers.
- Place the sugar and chopped chocolate in a saucepan and add half of the cashew mixture. Stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth then remove from the heat.
- Place the cornflour in a bowl and gradually whisk in the rest of the cashew mixture, making sure that there are no lumps.
- Pour the cornflour mixture into the pan of chocolate mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly.
- Place the pan over a low heat and whisk until it comes up to the boil and thickens then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl.
- Cover with greaseproof paper directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming then place in the fridge until completely cold. (I leave it in there overnight)
- Once chilled the mixture will be very thick. Give it a good whisk then churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.
- Transfer to a container and place in the freezer to firm up a little more before serving. Once the ice cream is fully frozen it will be quite firm; let it sit out at room temperature for a bit before scooping.
Notes
Adding the cornflour gives this ice cream a very thick, pudding-like texture. If you want a slightly lighter, melt-in-the-mouth (but still delicious) ice cream then you can omit the cornflour/cornstarch. In this case there is no need to bring the mixture up to the boil, just heat it enough to melt the chocolate and sugar.
Once fully frozen the ice cream will be quite firm (this is normal for all home-made ice creams, vegan or not.), just let it sit out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to soften up before scooping.