♣ Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! ♣
In the spirit of the holiday, I decided to post a green recipe (like I do most days), but I wanted something that’s more fun than, say, a green salad. I chose a simple dessert made with coconut milk and green tea: matcha ice cream!
When preparing to make this dessert, make sure you buy full-fat canned coconut milk and matcha powder (not tea leaves). I also used agave powder to sweeten my ice cream, but you could also use plain old sugar if you’re not avoiding it like I am. I opted to make mine only slightly sweet so I could drizzle some honey over it, but if you’re a true vegan you won’t want to do that, so you’ll probably want to add more sweetener to the ice cream itself.
You will also need an ice cream maker for this recipe to work. I use a Cuisinart, which I remember wasn’t very expensive. I keep the base in the freezer at all times, but if you don’t, make sure you allow it to freeze at least 12 hours before use.
As much as I love the taste and texture of real ice cream, my husband and I have found the coconut version to be equally satisfying in both flavor and creaminess. Every summer we pull out the ice cream maker and whip up some coffee coconut ice cream, which is our absolute favorite flavor. Perhaps I’ll post that recipe this summer . . .
Shown with matcha powder sprinkled on top
- 2 cans full-fat coconut milk (place one in fridge)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup or ¾ cup agave powder, plus more to taste
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 1 T. + 1 t. matcha powder (plus more for sprinkling)
- Optional: honey for drizzling
- Pour non-refrigerated can of coconut milk into a saucepan and stir over low heat to melt clumps. Add sweetener and stir to dissolve.
- Remove from heat and add matcha powder and vanilla, and whisk to eliminate as many clumps as possible.
- Remove the chilled can of coconut milk from the fridge and add to the saucepan. Whisk to combine.
- Transfer saucepan to the fridge to continue cooling for about an hour.
- Pour saucepan contents into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer instructions. When ice cream is the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, transfer to an air-tight container and keep in the freezer.
- To serve, scoop into cup or cone and sprinkle with matcha powder and drizzle with honey, if desired.
Optional: serve with matcha powder and honey drizzle.
I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick’s Day, but remember that eating your greens is more important than wearing green!
♣ ♣ ♣
Hm. On the minus side, this did not work during my first two attempts at freezing it (using my ice cream maker, that otherwise works perfectly). I think it’s because I didn’t pay attention to the fact that my coconut milk was full-fat. On the plus side, I then tried to freeze it by just putting it in a plastic container in my freezer, and mix the contents of the container with a fork every half-hour for about three hours or so, and it worked beautifully =)
Ted, I’m glad you found a way to make it work! It’s important that the coconut milk be full-fat, because otherwise your ice cream will be icy rather than creamy. I hope you enjoyed it!