Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Whew! Thanksgiving is over. The last week has been full of activity, and I've had a great time. Now Christmas is looming on the horizon, and I'm looking forward to making some holiday-themed vegan ice creams, like candy cane and soy nog.

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Nick and I visited the California Farm Sanctuary shelter for their "Celebration for the Turkeys." Instead of eating a turkey, you get to feed the turkeys! The turkeys especially liked the cranberry stuffing the Farm Sanctuary staff prepared. We also got to meet many of the other rescued animals at the shelter. And I just can't resist sharing pictures!

Here's Nick meeting Hank. Hank liked having his face petted.


Here's me and Linus. I'm brushing Linus's cheeks, and he just loved it.


Here's us feeding the turkeys!



Many of the turkeys we met were recently rescued by the Peninsula Humane Society in nearby San Mateo. Farm Sanctuary notes, "These turkeys were among over 11,500 birds transported from Detroit to San Francisco via Northwest Airlines. Upon arrival at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on July 13, Northwest employees discovered that over 9,000 of the birds had perished in transit from Detroit to SFO. According to the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA), which was the first to take in some of the surviving birds, said they 'believe the massive loss was due to overcrowding. The turkeys couldn't breathe, became overheated, dehydrated and died.' Approximately 1,900 surviving birds were sent to their final destination to become "breeder" birds, whose offspring would be sold for food." Amazingly, after such cruel treatment at the hands of humans, the rescued turkeys were sweet as pumpkin pie!

All in all, the trip to Farm Sanctuary was beautiful and inspiring for both me and Nick. It's easy to forget sometimes that the animals we're working to help are all interesting individuals with their own stories, just like the cats we've rescued and made a part of our family.

Anyway, after our pre-Thanksgiving celebration at Farm Sanctuary, we had our own vegan celebration at home with some friends. I was very good this year and didn't get completely stressed and overwork myself trying to make twenty different menu items! I kept it simple (simple for me, at least), and the results were great!

The menu:

- Winter Vegetable Pot Pie (a veganized version from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone), with butternut squash, celery root, parsnips, turnips, carrots, shallots, oyster mushrooms, and brussels sprouts, in a creamy herbed sauce, covered with a (store-bought) puff pastry crust.

- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic (from Vegan with a Vengeance).

- Green salad with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries.

- Homemade whole wheat rolls (I was inspired by the Vivacious Vegan).

- A can of that nasty gelled cranberry sauce that my husband snuck into the house to torment me. (I made him eat it. Revenge! Ha ha ha!)

- Apple crumble.

- Pumpkin squares!!! This is really a pumpkin cake, but my family calls it pumpkin squares for some reason. This year I veganized the recipe and it was so freaking good I'm going to make it again later this week and turn them into cupcakes. I frosted the cake/squares with the vegan cream cheese frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Yes, this is "holding back" for me. And we had only four guests! Yet somehow we had very few leftovers...

Taking Time Off

I just wanted to let y'all know that I'll probably be away from my bloggy for a few days--probably until after Thanksgiving. I've recently enabled comment moderation to deal with comment spam and unhelpful/rude comments. So if you try to post a comment and it doesn't appear, it's either because:

1) you are a jerk who wants to link to your white power website;
2) you want to insult me or my beliefs, rather than engage in intelligent conversation;
3) you're spamming me;
4) you have more misspelled than correctly spelled words in your comment;
5) I accidentally hit "reject" instead of "publish" (crap!);
6) yo momma;

or -- drum roll please--

7) I'm away from my bloggy over the holiday and will get to it all later.

In the meantime, I wish you all a peaceful Thanksgiving. I'd also like to introduce you to our adopted Thanksgiving turkey, Gideon. He lives at Farm Sanctuary, and is a very handsome gentleman, no? We are visiting Farm Sanctuary tomorrow for their annual Celebration for the Turkeys. I hope I get a chance to say hello to Gideon! Don't forget: you, too, can adopt a turkey!

And if you're still trying to figure out what to cook this year, I recommend checking out this site. For dessert, you can also add Pumpkin Ice Cream to the menu! It's like pie in ice cream form.

Avocado Ice Cream

This is a super-simple recipe that doesn’t require any heating or arrowroot powder.

3 ripe avocados
2 – 3 T. lime juice (depending on the strength of the lime)
½ c. sugar
2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 T. tequila (optional)

Place avocado flesh (not the pit or the skin!) in a blender. Add the lime juice, sugar, and 2 cups soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk). Puree until smooth.

If your blender is about to overflow at this point, pour the puree into a large bowl and whisk in the 1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) and tequila (if using). If your blender is large enough to accommodate more liquid, add soy milk and tequila and blend once more.

Pour puree into ice cream maker. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream

You can use whatever vegan chocolate chip cookie dough you like, but I've got a recipe if you need it!

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chip cookie dough

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. While the ice cream mixture is cooling, drop small clumps/balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer to freeze the cookie dough.

Freeze ice cream mixture according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. In the last five minutes of freezing, drop in the individually frozen pieces of cookie dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie. You can also use the cookie dough for cookie dough ice cream, or just crumble the cookies for another version of Cookies and Cream.

1 cup vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance
2 tablespoons "flax eggs" (see note below)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons soy milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper (my preferred method – no extra oil and clean-up is a breeze).

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and flax eggs until the flax eggs are evenly distributed throughout the margarine. Add the white and brown sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and the soy milk (warm soy milk is easier to use because it doesn’t make the margarine harden with the cold).

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the sugar mixture. The batter should be pretty stiff; using a hand mixer will make this step a lot easier! Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 - 13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Note: While there are many ways to replace eggs in baking, my favorite method is to make “flax eggs.” I recommend making these in bulk; it’s easier that way. Combine 1/3 cup flax seeds with 2/3 cup hot water in a blender. Let sit for 15 minutes, then blend until the mixture is gelatinous in texture and whole flax seeds are no longer visible. One tablespoon of flax eggs equals one egg. However, if you use this egg replacer and you notice that your batter isn’t quite as liquid-y as it seems it should be, add 2 to 3 tablespoons water, soy milk, or other liquid. (This is why I have soy milk in this recipe.) Whatever flax eggs you don’t use will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so you’ll have some on hand for the future. (One tip for using flax eggs is to beat the flax eggs into the oil/liquid before adding dry ingredients, as I have done in this recipe. It helps distribute the magic flax all throughout your batter.)

No Ice Cream Maker?

Over the last couple of days, several people have asked about making my vegan ice cream recipes without an ice cream maker. My response was generally of the "Duhhhh...ummm...I dunno" variety. And then I realized that teh Intarweb can answer any question! So I Googled my question and discovered some rather easy methods here and here. (Just ignore their recipes and use your own.)

Another method is to pour your chilled ice cream mixture into a bowl and stick it in the freezer. During the freezing process, take it out every once in a while and beat it with a hand mixer or whiz it up in a food processor so it doesn't freeze into one solid lump.

If you're adventurous, you could even use liquid nitrogen. How awesome would that be? I'll tell you: too awesome.

If you're going to be making homemade ice cream frequently, though, I do recommend purchasing an ice cream maker. It's easier than the other methods, I think. I've got this one
($50), and I really like it. There are cheaper models, too. You should be able to pick up a basic maker for around $20 - 25.

Noteworthy?

So today I was shocked to discover that my blog was listed as a "blog of note" on Blogger. Aw, shucks. The comments and emails have been pouring in, and I've been trying to respond to many of them. Some of my comments never appeared, so I am a bit worried that something might be awry with the comment feature. Nevertheless, I proceed undaunted!

Unsurprisingly, I've heard several times today questions (and occasionally insults) about why I don't eat animal products. I've never really addressed this before on my blog, mostly because I figure if you're looking at a blog about how to make vegan ice cream, you probably aren't asking, "Why vegan?" Since I've gotten so many new visitors, though, I figure now's the time to answer the question.

To distill my reasoning to its purest form, I am vegan for the following reason:

Animals raised for food (whether for meat, milk, or eggs) suffer tremendously. We do not need to eat animal products to be healthy. Therefore, this suffering is unnecessary. Causing unnecessary suffering is unethical. I want to live an ethical life.

I could detail the abuses suffered by animals on modern farms--whether organic, free-range, or conventional--but there are many websites that already have this information presented in a clear, factual, and documented manner.

• Birds raised for meat
• Birds raised for eggs
• Cattle raised for meat
• Cattle raised for milk
• Pigs
• "Free-range" animals

So there you have it. On a much lighter note, tonight I spoke to the Stanford University animal rights group about promoting veganism as a way to reduce animal suffering. I specifically talked about Vegan Outreach's Adopt-A-College program. Best of all, I made cupcakes! (I figured that ice cream would melt.)

So here's your lovely host, displaying carrot cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).

Vegan Brownie Update - and Cupcakes!

Just wanted to note that I've done a little more testing/perfecting of the vegan brownie recipe and have tweaked it just a tad more. I now list the cooking time for a double batch, since more brownies = more better.

And I wanted to say that HOLY CRAP I LOVE CUPCAKES. As you might have guessed, I've acquired a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Which is why you haven't seen many new ice cream recipes on my bloggy. I've been way too busy making cupcakes. And eating cupcakes. And sending cupcakes with my husband to work to give to all his non-vegan coworkers. And reading Terry and Isa's vegan cupcake blog.

I think I can justify this departure from ice cream by sharing a conversation with my husband last night.

Nick: Hmmm...would it be wrong to eat another cupcake? It's the last chocolate one.

Me: The cupcake is calling you! Eeeeeeeeat me! Eeeeeeeeeeat me!

Nick: Oh boy.

Me: You know what this cupcake needs? Ice cream. You need to put that bad boy in the microwave and then top it with ice cream so the ice cream gets all melty and runs into the cupcake and it's like some kind of cupcake/ice cream orgy in your belly.

That's right. Cupcake/ice cream orgy. You know you want it.

Two Vanillas

I suppose I should be ashamed that I've got an ice cream blog but I've never posted a recipe for just plain vanilla. Because vanilla shouldn't be overlooked! It's perfect for vegan ice cream sandwiches or for topping your apple pie. So rise up, vanilla! Your day is here!

I'm providing two different vanilla recipes. One is "premium," like all fancy and stuff, and the other is easy and basic and cheaper because vanilla beans can be expensive. Of course, you can use any non-dairy milk in these, even though I've listed soy milk in the recipe. You could even use vanilla-flavored milk for a crazy vanilla experience.

Fancy Pants Vanilla

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1 vanilla bean
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer and soy milk together in a saucepan. Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the milk. Drop the bean shell into the milk too. Bring to a slight boil, then lower the temperature and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean shell. Stir in the sugar, and bring to a boil again. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Lazy Vanilla

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
2 t. vanilla extract (choose a high-quality brand; none of that imitation stuff either!)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Pudding Ice Cream

This is ice cream for only the very lazy. Like Juno:

I suppose it would also be fun for kids, since it's so easy to make. You only need two ingredients, there's no heating, and you can freeze it right away if your non-dairy milk is cold when you mix it. Instant gratification!

Ingredients:
2 boxes instant pudding (many flavors are vegan)
3 cups non-dairy milk or creamer

Add-ins (optional)
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, whatever

Whisk together pudding mix and milk/creamer. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to machine directions.

You're done!

My first experiment with this involved pistachio pudding. Why? Maybe I was nostalgic for those Southern potlucks where at least three different women would bring some variation of pistachio pudding "salad," with little marshmallows and pineapple chunks. Maybe I wanted green ice cream. Maybe my husband really wanted me to. In any case, it was fun and easy. Yup.

Wildwood Soy Creamer

There's a new soy creamer on the market! I love Wildwood soy milk, so I was really excited to see that they're now making a creamer. It was cheaper than Silk soy creamer, too. Rock!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

You might notice that this recipe is different from my others because it doesn’t use arrowroot to thicken the ice cream mixture. The bananas make it so thick and creamy that it wasn’t necessary. So this is perfect if you’re out of arrowroot, or if you don’t have access to a store that sells it! (If this is your first ice cream attempt, you might want to check the General Guidelines and Advice before starting.)

3 ripe bananas
2 c. non-dairy milk or creamer (for a real treat, use coconut milk!)
½ c. brown sugar
½ - ¾ c. peanut butter (depending on how peanutastic you wan this to be)
1 t. vanilla

Peel bananas and place in a blender. Add non-dairy milk/creamer and puree.

Transfer the liquid to a medium-sized sauce pan. Over medium heat, dissolve the brown sugar and peanut butter into the liquid. It will be really thick and creamy at the end!

Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. It will get really thick when it’s refrigerated. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Basil Ice Cream

Basil ice cream? Yes! Check out the Vivacious Vegan blog for her basil ice cream recipe.

Go quickly! Before summer's fresh basil is all gone!

Have you gone yet? What are you waiting for?!

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches!

While there are many excellent pre-made vegan ice cream sandwiches on the market (I'm thinking of Soy Delicious here), how much fun would it be to make your own? Too much fun!

My husband recently bought me ice cream sandwich molds from Williams Sonoma. They are so cute. One is a star, one is a pig, and one is a cow. I like the cow best, because I can say the cow is happy because the sandwiches are vegan! Because, really, animal abuse sucks.

Here are the molds:

If you don't have ice cream sandwich molds--and who does? except me!--you can get creative with cookie cutters. You could even just cut the ends off a short (washed out!) can and use that to pack your sandwich. Just use the back of a spoon to squish the cookie down, then the ice cream, then pack the cookie on top. Maybe cut a round of waxed paper for the top and press down to even it all out. Get creative. I know you can.

Anyway, tonight we made sandwiches for the first time. I used brownies for the cookie part of the sandwich. You could use any kind of cookie you wanted, really. For the filling, we used vanilla ice cream. I was in the mood for something traditional, you know?

Our ice cream was too soft, we discovered, and the sandwiches didn't turn out as pretty as I'd hoped. But they are still tasty. And they look comforting and homemade. That counts for something, right? Here are pictures of our sandwiches:

Here's a picture of what the folks at Williams Sonoma think you can do:

Yeah. Right.

I'm so excited about the prospect of more ice cream sandwiches. I've got so many ideas for cookie/filling combinations. Like...

gingerbread cookie / spiced apple ice cream
brownie / peanut butter ice cream
brownie / raspberry ice cream
brownie / mint chocolate chip ice cream
blondie / chocolate ice cream
blondie / strawberry ice cream
peanut butter cookie / chocolate ice cream
oatmeal cookie / coffee ice cream

The possibilities are endless!

Vegan Brownies

I love nothing more than a caramel ice cream sundae on top of a hot brownie. The ice cream starts to melt into the brownie and everything kind of gets mixed together in delicious mess. I got this recipe off the internet and veganized it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

If you want to make an ice cream with the brownies, I suggest cooling the brownies and cutting them into small chunks, then mixing them into the Cookies and Cream recipe instead of the cookies. Maybe add some chopped walnuts or pecans, and you’ll have Nutty Brownie Ice Cream!

Finally, this recipe also doubles very well. Just bake in a 9 x 13-inch pan for a few more minutes--I find that 37 minutes for a double batch is just perfect. And, really, don't you want more brownies?

½ c. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine, melted
½ c. unsweetened cocoa
1 c. sugar
2 T. flax eggs (see note below)
3 T. soy milk
2 t. vanilla extract
½ c. flour
¼ t. salt
¼ t. baking powder

Add-ins (optional)
½ - ¾ c. chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, whatever

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square pan, or line the baking pan with parchment paper. (I prefer the parchment paper because the bottoms of the brownies are less oily that way.)

In a medium-sized bowl combine melted Earth Balance or margarine and cocoa powder and beat until cocoa is dissolved. Beat in sugar. Beat in flax eggs until the flax is evenly distributed throughout the mix. While beating, add soy milk and vanilla extract a little at a time until it’s all evenly mixed. (I find it’s easiest to use a hand mixer for all of this.)

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture just until no more flour is visible. Do not overmix! (I do this part by hand. It’s too easy to overmix with the hand mixer.)

If using an add-in, fold it in.

Spread in the pan and bake for 27 - 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting—if you have the willpower to resist them while they’re warm and gooey.

Note: While there are many ways to replace eggs in baking, my favorite method is to make “flax eggs.” I recommend making these in bulk; it’s easier that way. Combine 1/3 cup flax seeds with 2/3 cup hot water in a blender. Let sit for 15 minutes, then blend until the mixture is gelatinous in texture and whole flax seeds are no longer visible. One tablespoon of flax eggs equals one egg. However, if you use this egg replacer and you notice that your batter isn’t quite as liquid-y as it seems it should be, add 2 to 3 tablespoons water, soy milk, or other liquid. (This is why I have soy milk in this recipe.) Whatever flax eggs you don’t use will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so you’ll have some on hand for the future. (One tip for using flax eggs is to beat the flax eggs into the oil/liquid before adding dry ingredients, as I have done in this recipe. It helps distribute the magic flax all throughout your batter.)

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

On a recent visit to Maggie Mudd in San Francisco, I tried their “Raspberry Blackout” flavor. It was so amazing that I wanted to make it at home. I used frozen raspberries and Sunspire organic chocolate chips. Other brands of vegan chocolate chips include Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips, Tropical Source chocolate chips, and Trader Joe’s chocolate chips. And Safeway now sells Safeway Organic Chocolate Chips. They're vegan too! (Note: This recipe could easily be adapted to other chocolate-fruit combinations, like chocolate cherry. Just replace the raspberries with the fruit of your choice.)

1½ c. raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. cocoa powder
½ c. vegan chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine ¾ cup raspberries and 1 cup soy creamer in blender. Puree. Strain this liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the raspberry seeds.

Pour the raspberry-creamer liquid into a sauce pan and add the remaining soy creamer, remaining soy milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. Heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate chips melt. Then bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add remaining ¾ cup raspberries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Cookies and Cream

You can use any kind of vegan cookie you like in this recipe, but sandwich cookies are my favorite. The last time I checked, Oreo cookies are vegan, but I've heard this varies from region to region, so you may want to read the package to be sure. My personal favorite sandwich cookie is the "Joe-Joe" from Trader Joe's. They are everything Oreos aspire to be, and they don't contain hydrogenated oil! (Check the General Guidelines and Advice, if you're new to vegan ice cream making!)

2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
½ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla
1 c. chopped cookies

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped cookies in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Tamarind Ice Cream - An Experiment

My husband acquired a taste for tamarind candy in Puerto Rico, where he spent part of his childhood. So I wanted to make tamarind ice cream! This proved to be more difficult than I was originally anticipating, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. But when has that ever stopped me?

That said, this recipe is only an experiment. The result was delicious. However, there are probably better and/or easier ways to make tamarind ice cream. For example, tamarind syrup (which I couldn't find in stores but is available on the internet) could make things much easier because then you could formulate a recipe without the tamarind mash that I made from tamarind pulp. But here's what I did. (General Guidelines and Advice found here.)

Tamarind Ice Cream

1/2 c. + 2 T tamarind mash (see recipe below)
2 c. soy creamer (note: this would also be really good with coconut milk too!)
1 1/2 c. soy milk
1 c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine tamarind mash with soy creamer in a sauce pan. Whisk together over medium heat. If, like I did, you find that your tamarind mash has some fibrous bits floating around in the liquid, pour the mixture through a strainer to remove those tough pieces. Return the liquid to the sauce pan.

Add the remaining soy milk and sugar. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Tamarind Mash

1/2 c. seedless tamarind pulp*
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. lime juice
1 c. + 2 T. water

Combine the tamarind pulp, sugar, lime, and 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan. Heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir in about 1/4 cup water at a time; this will make mixing easier. After all the water is mixed in, transfer the mash to a blender and puree (be careful with the steam!).

This makes about 1 1/4 cups of tamarind mash, more than you'll need for the above ice cream recipe. You can save the rest of the mash and mix it with water and sugar for aqua de tamarindo!

* I bought a package of seedless tamarind pulp at a local Indian grocery store. You could also buy tamarind pods and scrape out the pulp and remove the seeds. Indian, Thai, or Hispanic stores are good places to find tamarinds.

Vegan Whipped Cream

I've tried a variety of vegan whipped toppings in the past. I've made my own with tofu and lemon juice and other stuff, and it was OK, but not at all like whipped cream. Most vegan cookbooks with a dessert section have a recipe like this.

Then there's the Lucerne-brand non-dairy dessert topping at Safeway. It's basically hydrogenated oil that somehow resembles whipped cream, but is obviously full of trans fat and leaves you feeling dirty afterwards. It'll do in a pinch, and if you're looking for it, it'll be in the dairy case next to the canned whipped cream. It's the kind that's propelled by nitrous oxide--you know, laughing gas. (In college, I worked in the dining hall, and a friend of mine would take all the used cans of whipped cream and inhale the nitrous. He also snorted a crushed Vivarin once. And MSG. He snorted straight-up MSG. Later he passed out and woke up with a horrible headache. I wouldn't recommend this to y'all.)

OK. Enough college tales.

My point in this entry is that there is now a really good vegan whipped cream: Soyatoo Soy Whip! It looks and tastes like actual whipped cream. Nick bought it for me at Food Fight, a vegan grocery store in Portland. You can buy it from them on their website.

Double Pretzel Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Alana Graziano in Santa Cruz, CA, emailed this recipe to me. My freezer is stuffed right now, so I haven’t made this yet, but it sounds wonderful!

I imagine you could use unflavored soy creamer (or soy milk) instead of French vanilla creamer and add in a tablespoon or so (maybe more) of vanilla to get the same effect. Alana also suggested increasing the amount of peanut butter you use, if you want a bigger PB taste.

2 c. French vanilla soy creamer
1 1/2 c. vanilla soy milk
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
2 T. arrowroot
approx. 1 c. chopped peanut-butter-covered pretzels and chocolate-covered pretzels

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat. When hot, whisk in peanut butter so it is thoroughly incorporated. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped pretzels in the last five minutes of freezing.

Mango Coconut Ice Cream

I've finally gotten around to posting a coconut-based ice cream! I usually use half light coconut milk and half full-fat coconut milk, but you could use all of either one or the other, depending on how health-conscious you are. And if you feel guilty for eating so much coconut fat, just tell yourself that the mango makes it healthy. Yeah...I like the sound of that. P.S. If you don't know how to peel or chop a mango, check out this page.

3 cups coconut milk
1 c. sugar
2 c. mango chunks (½ -inch square or smaller)
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot

Mix ¼ cup of the coconut milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Puree half of the mango chunks.

Combine the pureed mango, remaining coconut milk, sugar, and lime together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add mango chunks in the last five minutes of freezing.

Peach Ice Cream

Fresh peaches are one of summer’s delights. To learn how to easily peel peaches, click here. Then take those peeled peaches and make ice cream! (Almonds and peaches go well together, which is why I included optional almond extract. You could also add a half cup of chopped almonds at the end, if you wanted.) And for general ice cream advice, click here.

2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
3/4 c. sugar
4 - 5 peaches, pealed and chopped
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract (optional)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Puree half of the chopped peaches.

Combine the pureed peaches, soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and almond extract (if desired).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped peaches in the last five minutes of freezing.

Strawberry Ice Cream

It's been terribly hot for the last week or so, and I wanted a delicate ice cream to cool off with. I had some amazing organic strawberries in my fridge, so I came up with this recipe. While organic strawberries are quite a bit more expensive, I tend to think they're worth the cost. Check your local farmer's market; they're usually a lot cheaper there! (As always, you might want to read the General Guidelines and Advice before starting!)

1½ - 2 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)
2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 T. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Slice one cup of the strawberries and set aside.

Combine the remaining strawberries, soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar together in a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add sliced strawberries in the last five minutes of freezing.

Vegan Caramel Sauce

I wanted to bake a dessert that called for caramel sauce, but all of the brands at the store contained dairy. What's a girl to do? Make her own!

(Note: This is a caramel sauce--not hard caramel--and is thick but pourable at room temperature. I recommend storing it in the fridge and heating it up to drizzle over ice cream, vegan cheesecake, apple slices, and more!)

1/2 c. (1 stick) Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. soy creamer or soy milk
2 T. arrowroot

Combine 1/4 cup soy creamer with the arrowroot. Set aside.

Melt the Earth Balance in a saucepan. Stir in brown sugar. Add remaining 1/2 cup soy creamer. Bring liquid to a boil and boil for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Take the pan off the heat and immediately add arrowroot slurry. The liquid should thicken quickly.

Pour over ice cream! Or store in fridge for up to one week.

Suggestions Welcome!

I bet you love ice cream as much as I do. I mean, what's not to love? Unless you're some kind of freak. And you're not. Unless you're the good kind of freak, which would be OK, but then you'd like ice cream, right?

Anyway. Since this blog is all about vegan ice cream recipes, I'd love you to send me your submissions! I'll publish them and give you credit, of course.

Similarly, if you have any requests, send 'em on. I'll do my best to invent an ice cream recipe to match. The catch is that it has to be vegan and cannot contain cashews, because I'm allergic. Can't even touch them without breaking out in hives. So don't bother sending a request for cow-milk ice cream with bacon and cashews.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

2 c. soy creamer
2 c. soy milk
3 T. Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla
½ c. chopped pecans (toasted pecans are especially nice)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, Earth Balance, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools). Stir in the vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped pecans during the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I like adding the food coloring to give it that unnatural green color. (General Guidelines and Advice for vegan ice cream creations.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 1/4 c. soy milk
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
1 1/2 t. peppermint extract
1/2 t. vanilla extract
a few drops green food coloring (optional)
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in the peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and food coloring (if desired).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

It's like pumpkin pie in ice cream form. (Check out my General Guidelines and Advice before starting.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 c. soy milk
¾ c. brown sugar
1 c. cooked, mashed pumpkin (homemade or canned; see note below)
1 ½ t. pumpkin pie spice
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining soy milk, brown sugar, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Note: If you cook your own pumpkin, be sure to use a sugar pie pumpkin or other cooking pumpkin. Jack o'lantern pumpkins are cool for Halloween, but don't make for good eatin'. They're flavorless, watery, and stringy.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

This is perhaps my favorite homemade ice cream. It's thick and creamy and oh-so-sinful. But it also has blueberries in it, so you can pretend it's good for you. (It's a good idea to check out my General Guidelines and Advice before starting to cook.)

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 c. vegan cream cheese (approx. 8-ounce container Tofutti)
¾ c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
½ c. soy milk
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/8 c. sugar
splash lemon juice

Combine soy creamer, cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Heat and mix contents. It will take some whisking to break up the cream cheese and get it to dissolve. While heating, combine the ½ cup soy milk and 2 tablespoons arrowroot and set aside. Once the pan’s contents are boiling, take from heat and add soy milk–arrowroot mixture. The liquid should thicken quickly. Add vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.

Combine blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat until boiling and some blueberries have burst. Set aside to cool.

Freeze cream cheese mixture according to ice cream maker instructions. Add blueberries 5 minutes before end of freezing cycle.

Molasses Ice Cream

This is one of the first ice creams I experimented with. My husband loves molasses, so I thought I'd make this just for him. Personally, I don't much care for it, but if you like molasses, this should be just the thing for you. Before you begin, you might want to check out my General Guidelines and Advice.

2 c. Silk soy creamer
1 ¼ c. soy milk
½ c. regular molasses
¼ c. blackstrap molasses
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and molasses together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

General Guidelines and Advice

1) Amounts. My ice cream maker, like many on the market, holds just over one quart of finished ice cream. Therefore you’ll find that my recipes make roundabouts one quart of frozen delight. To achieve this, you’ll need to have your ingredients add up to about one quart. For example, four cups of soy milk plus sweeteners and flavors; two cups soy milk, one and a half cups soy creamer, and one-half cup of nuts, plus sweeteners and flavors. You get the picture.

I’m not always right at one quart, but usually pretty close. If it looks like your one-quart ice cream maker is about to overflow when you put in the ingredients I call for, just downsize a little.

2) What kind of “milk”? Since this is vegan ice cream, you have a lot of leeway in what you use. You can use soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, oat, coconut, or whatever non-dairy milk you like. If I’m making a coconut ice cream, I always use coconut milk. Otherwise, I generally use a combination of soy milk and soy creamer. The soy creamer adds a some extra fat, which makes richer ice cream. If you want really rich ice cream, use all soy creamer. Or make a coconut ice cream with full-fat coconut milk and swoon with fatty delight. If you want low-fat, go for all soy milk. You could even use reduced fat soy milk if you wanted. Remember, though, the less fat the ice cream has, the less rich it is likely to be. Health vs. taste. Why is life so hard?

3) Arrowroot. Arrowroot is a starch that you can use to thicken sauces, pies, or (in this case) ice cream. You can probably find it in most health food stores in either the baking or spice department. I recommend buying it in the bulk section because it’s probably cheapest that way.

Arrowroot is a tricky ingredient. You must heat it to activate the thickening powers, but if it gets too hot, you kill the magic and you get not thickening. I’ve worked out a way to get this perfect every time, though.

First, mix the arrowroot with about ¼ cup of the milk you’re using. Set this aside. You’ll be heating the rest of the non-dairy and dissolving the sugar into it. Let this liquid come to a boil, then take it off the heat and immediately pour in the arrowroot slurry. Stir it so the mixture gets even distributed. You should feel the thickening effects of the arrowroot almost immediately. It’ll be even more obvious when the liquid cools down (which you have to let it do before you put it into your ice cream maker).

4) Other recipes. I should note that there is an entire book of vegan ice cream recipes called Vice Cream. I haven’t purchased the book because the recipes frequently call for cashew nuts/cashew milk as the liquid base, and I’m allergic to cashews. As much as I love ice cream, I love continuing to live even more.

Commercially Available Vegan Ice Cream

While my blog is mostly about making your own vegan ice cream, you can get some really great flavors already made. I like making my own because I can make whatever flavor I want (even molasses ice cream for my husband), and because for a few dollars in ingredients I can get a quart of ice cream, instead of a little pint.

You can find vegan ice cream in almost any health store, and in some grocery stores. The most popular kinds are made from soy milk, though Rice Dream is made from rice milk (you’d never guess from the name, right?). Sorbet is almost always vegan.

Some common brands of vegan ice cream include: Soy Dream, Rice Dream, Whole Soy (you must try the crème caramel flavor!), Soy Delicious (which is now being marketed as So Delicious in some flavors), and Tofutti. My personal favorites are the Whole Soy pints and the Soy Delicious Purely Decadent pints. The Soy Delicious Li’l Buddies ice cream sandwiches are also wonderful.

If you are lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you absolutely must make a visit to Maggie Mudd’s. They have about twenty flavors of amazing vegan ice cream. They’ll make you a sundae, a milkshake, whatever.

I gots me a blog!

Wow! I have a blog! I feel so modern, as the kids say nowadays. OK, so kids nowadays probably say something totally different, but I wouldn't know because I am TOTALLY UNCOOL.

What's important, though, is that however uncool I may be, I can still make good ice cream.

Summer is firmly here and it's time to cool down with some rich, creamy ice cream. Vegan ice cream, to be precise, so as to avoid all that pesky animal cruelty.