Made with just four ingredients, including raw cacao, coconut milk, stevia and vanilla, and topped with a brandy-soaked cherry, this ice cream satisfies on so many levels.
Ice cream! We are all screaming for it, aren't we? This Lectin Free Gourmet ice cream is really fast and easy if you have an ice cream maker. You can also make it without one; it just takes a little longer.
I received a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker from my inlaws, Larry and Diane (Papa and Ash) for Christmas one year and it's one of the most fun kitchen tools I own. You can literally whip up a batch of homemade ice cream in 15 minutes. The thing I really like about making ice cream at home is that you can control what goes in it.
My Lectin Free Gourmet Chocolate Ice Cream has just just four simple ingredients most of us lectin free peeps already have around. Ready to make it? Read on for the recipe.
The Recipe
Lectin Free Gourmet Chocolate Ice Cream
3 C Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1/3 C Raw Cacao
1 - 3 t 100% Stevia Leaf Extract Powder (no maltodextrin or dextrose fillers)
1/2 t Vanilla Extract
Whipped Topping
1/2 C Coconut Cream
Brandied Cherries
20 Pitted Black Cherries
1 Cup Brandy
1 T Monk Fruit Sweetener
1/4 t Almond Extract
*Choose a stevia powder that doesn't have fillers. You will use far less of it! Many powdered stevia products have fillers like maltodextrin and dextrose made from genetically modified corn, which I'm not recommending here. Organic Traditions or Now Better Stevia or Stevita are all good choices. Just read the label and look for a powder that has 100% pure stevia extract and no fillers. A ratio of 100% pure stevia extract powder to the baking stevia with fillers would be about 1:8. So based on this logic, I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of pure stevia extract powder in your ice cream mixture and tasting from there to see if it's sweet enough for you. I like it less sweet.
Instructions:
Step 1: Make Brandied Cherries
In a clean mason jar with lid, add brandy, monk fruit sweetener and almond extract. Put the lid on and shake well. Add pitted cherries. The longer these sit the better they are, and the more brandy and flavor the cherries will soak up, so make well ahead if you can. Caution: these will get you drunk if you eat too many, so just one on your ice cream is enough!
Step 2: Mix the Ingredients
Measure 1/2 cup of coconut cream for the whipped topping and put it into a medium bowl, then place it in the freezer for later. Next, in a medium saucepan on medium heat, whisk together all your ice cream ingredients until well blended and creamy smooth. Start with 1 teaspoon of stevia and taste before you add any more. The 100% stevia extract powder as opposed to the baking stevia with fillers, is a lot sweeter, so the pure extract lasts a really long time. Anyway, heating all the ingredients together helps incorporate them chemically. DO NOT bring to a boil as you will have to wait longer for it to cool. Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Churn the Mixture
If you have an ice cream maker, GREAT! You're about 15 minutes away from ice cream! If you don't, skip this paragraph and read the next one for instructions. Pour the mixture into your the frozen ice cream making vessel and churn for 15 minutes until thick and frozen like soft serve. You can eat it as this point. If you like hard ice cream, transfer the mixture into a container and cover it. Freeze for an hour.
If you don't have an ice cream maker, take your warm mixture and pour it into a container and cover it. Freeze for an hour. Take it out and stir it. Cover it again and freeze another hour. In another 30 minutes, as it gets closer to freezing stir it until it's really creamy like soft serve, then let it freeze unbothered one more hour.
Step 4: Make the Whipped Cream
Take the bowl of coconut cream out of the freezer. It should be pretty solid at this point. With a hand mixer, whip it up like real whipping cream. That's it!
If you plan on storing the ice cream in the freezer, you'll need to thaw it part way and stir it up again before eating it. Otherwise just serve it all when you make it, or cut the recipe to fit your immediate serving needs.
To serve, I like ice cream "up" in a martini glass. It just makes it seem more special. And we are using a brandied cherry, so....... Scoop about 1/2 cup of ice cream (this is really rich chocolate ice cream so you're not going to need a lot) into a martini glass, plop a large dollop of whipped coconut cream onto the side and place a brandied cherry on top.
What a treat! YUM!!!!