THE Creamiest Vegan Ice Cream! (Cashews)

I'm still obsessed with making dairy-free ice cream. The good news is that it's finally ice cream weather (When I started this adventure in January, it was -25 Celsius).

My favourite Salted Caramel recipe uses a custard base. I've been experimenting with egg-free versions and haven't been satisfied with the taste and texture of coconut milk recipes. While I like the taste, I find it's overwhelming unless you are going for a coconut-flavoured treat. Even when using xanthan gum, the texture isn't smooth enough, especially the next day. Almond milk doesn't have enough fat so you end up with more ice than cream.  I recently discovered that CASHEWS are the way to go.

This cashew-based recipe, inspired by veganbaking.net, is the creamiest dairy-free and egg-free recipe out there. It's not too nutty which gives you the flexibility to flavour your ice cream any way you like. Use this recipe on its own or as a base for other flavours like espresso (see below), chocolate maple-pecan or my favourite salted caramel.  

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted, raw cashews 
• 2 ½ cups water (plus water for soaking cashews)
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup coconut sugar (or sweeten to taste but remember that the frozen ice cream will be less sweet than the mixture at room temperature)
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons melted cocoa butter (if you don't have access to cocoa butter, substitute it with 1 additional teaspoon coconut oil)
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (you can use 2 vanilla beans but I wouldn't waste fresh beans on this recipe. You can't really taste it unless you use white sugar and corn syrup like the original  recipe).
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum

Optional: You can add chopped nuts, chocolate/carob chips, cookies or other add-ins if you like. Make sure they are cold when you add to the ice cream.

 

Instructions

1. In a covered container, soak your cashews in water overnight (or for at least 4 hours). I like to keep them in the fridge.
2. Rinse the cashews and discard water. 
3. Place soaked nuts in a high speed blender with 2.5 cups of filtered water.
4. Add melted coconut oil and coconut butter, sugar, syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and salt into the blender. Place the lid on the blender and blend on low-medium for 1 minute. It should be a smooth mixture with no pieces of cashews. 
5. While the blender is running on LOW, carefully remove the top cap of the blender and pour in the xanthan gum and blend for 1 minute. 
6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place it in the refrigerator (covered) until completely cold, about 4 hours. 
7. Process the ice cream in an ice cream maker by following the manufacturer's instructions (mine takes about 20 minutes).  
8. Transfer the ice cream to a container, packing it down to make sure there are as few air pockets as possible. Chill for several hours or until it reaches your desired consistency. 

Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.


COFFEE/MOCHA FLAVOUR 

Make 1 cup of very strong espresso and dissolve 1 TB of cocoa powder into the espresso. Instead of adding 2.5 cups of filtered water (Step #3), use 1.5 cups and add the 1 cup espresso (with cocoa) to the blender. Add more sugar/espresso to taste.