Spiced Coconut Ice Cream

Ice cream will always be my greatest weakness, and so creating a homemade version that used better ingredients has been a personal project for the last few weeks. After multiple batches where I’ve felt much like Goldilocks, some too hard and icy, and some others too mushy, I’ve finally landed on the perfect smooth and creamy ice cream I’ve been craving. And it gets one step better, because this is dairy-free and vegan! As we progress into colder months, it only felt appropriate to spice up the ice cream a little, and so we have a base infused with fresh ginger root, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. This is autumn’s ice cream dream!

Ingredients

• 1 400ml tin full fat coconut milk

• 1 400ml tin coconut cream

• 2 large cinnamon sticks

• 7-8 cloves

• 3 star anise

• 5 inch knob of fresh ginger, crushed

• 2/3 cup raw cane sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 2 tbsp arrowroot starch

Method of Preparation

1. Set aside 1/3 cup of coconut milk in a bowl.

2. Add the remaining coconut milk + coconut cream + cinnamon + clove + star anise + ginger + raw cane sugar + salt to a large saucepan, and gently warm. As this cream base begins to bubble a little, turn off the heat and allow the spices to steep for 1 hour.

3. Add the arrowroot starch to the reserved coconut milk, and create a slurry. Strain the cream base into another saucepan so as to remove the solids. Warm the cream base, and add the coconut oil. Give it s good stir, then add the slurry. Stir a couple of times, turn off the heat, and continue to stir till it has thickened. Allow it to cool completely.

4. Pour the cooled cream base into a sandwich bag, removing any air bubbles before sealing it. Place it flat in the freezer, and allow it to freeze overnight.

5. Remove the frozen cream base the next day, break into blocks and blend in the food processor till it becomes creamy. Transfer to your desired ice cream tin, and freeze overnight.

6. Allow the ice cream to sit outside for 5-10 minutes before serving.