Almond Milk Ice Cream with a Blueberry Swirl

by Angela Gallardo in Desserts, Recipes

3 comments

It’s been a weekend in experimentation with ice cream, which yielded this fantastic blueberry almond milk flavor.

There were definitely a few near-misses as I went along.  I took my eyes off the ice cream mix as it was heating on the stove and it thickened more than I’d have liked.  I fixed this by adding a little more almond milk to get back to the consistency I needed.  Another side effect of heating too much, too fast was that the egg started to coagulate in the mix.  If this happens to you, just add the mix to a blender (after letting it cool slightly), and blend on high for 30 seconds or so.  This will get it back to a smoother, velvety ice cream mix.

I’ve done coconut milk in place of dairy before.  But it’s only so often that I crave coconut-flavored ice cream.  So I was striving to get dairy-free with a totally different flavor this time.  This recipe has significantly less calories than your traditional homemade ice cream because of the lack of cream and half-in-half.  Because of that, it does have a slightly “icier” texture than the smoothness you get with dairy fat.  But the flavor I achieved was so fresh and delicious that it compensated generously.  Of course, you can sub any milk in place of the almond milk.  And if you choose to use dairy, the recipe will just be that much richer!

Almond Milk Ice Cream

• 2 c. homemade almond milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 c. expeller-pressed coconut oil (for the milder coconut flavor)
• 1/3 c. raw honey
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Blueberry Swirl & Blueberry Syrup

• 2 c. fresh blueberries
• 2 tbsp. raw honey
• 1/2 tsp. tapioca starch

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all almond milk ice cream ingredients except the extracts and whisk to combine.  Turn heat to medium low heat (about a 3-4) to bring heat up slowly, whisking the whole time.  Once the mixture is just below a simmer, about 10 minutes later, it should start to thicken.
2. Add extracts and cook another 3-5 minutes.  Do not let the mixture boil.  If it does, turn the heat down slightly.  Remove from heat and refrigerate until cool.  I usually prepare mine the night before I mix it in the machine.
3. In a separate saucepan, combine blueberries, honey, and tapioca starch.  Bring up to a boil on medium high heat.  Cook until the blueberries are beginning to burst and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and strain mixture to separate the berries and the syrup.  Place berries in the fridge to cool along with the ice cream mixture and set the syrup aside (can be used warm or cool).
4. Once both are cooled, prepare your ice cream according to the instructions your machine provides.  I placed the ice cream into my machine for about 15 minutes, then added the reserved blueberries once it had started to set up.  I wanted to get a swirl effect rather than turning the whole batch purple.  If you don’t care about the swirl, just add both the ice cream mix and berries in at the same time.  After another 3 minutes or so, I was able to remove the ice cream and enjoy topped with the homemade blueberry syrup!

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