I’ve tried quite a few vegan ice cream recipes. But they always seem to crystallize, harden like a rock freezer (not creamy at all), or have such a strong cashew or coconut taste that it overwhelms all the flavours you try to add. I’d almost given up trying to make a vegan ice cream until I found the vegan ice cream recipes from the Minimalist Baker. All their ice creams seem to use the same base but with different flavourings. I decided to give vegan ice cream one more chance…. I had a ton of mangos that I were a little over ripe that had to use up. So I decided to try making a mango ripple. It combines a combination of Cashew, Coconut, Arrowroot all elements of all the other ice cream bases that I found overwhelming. It also added coconut oil and vanilla extract which helps to stop the crystallization and gives it the same consistency as store bought ice cream.

ICE CREAM BASE
1 1/2 cups (168 g) raw cashews
1 cup (191g or 1/2 can) full fat coconut milk
1 cup non-dairy milk
3 Tbsp (45 ml) coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
1/4 (60ml) cup maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 cane sugar, or to taste

MANGO SWIRL
1 large mango
pinch of sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar, or to taste

MAKING THE ICE CREAM BASE

1. The night before, place your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer.
2. Soak the raw cashews in cool water 4-6 hours or overnight. If you forget to leave enough time to soak the cashews, you can soak the cashews in very hot water for an hour. Drain the water from the cashews.
3. In a high speed blender, add the soaked cashews, and all the rest of the ingredients for the ice cream base.
4. Blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Taste and add more maple syrup or sugar if desired.
6. Transfer to a bowl and chill overnight.

MAKING THE MANGO SWIRL

1. In a high speed blender, add the peeled mango, salt and sugar until smooth and creamy.
2. Taste and adjust sugar if needed. It should be slightly over sweet, because once it freezes, the sweetness gets toned down.
3. Refridgerate until ready to use.

CHURNING THE ICE CREAM

1. Assemble your ice cream maker. Don’t pull the ice cream bowl from the freezer until just before you plan to start churning.
2. Churn the ice cream base until the ice cream is thick and the make just spins the ice cream around.
3. Just before taking the ice cream out, pour in half of the Mango syrup until slightly swirled.
4. Scoop ice cream into a container.
5. Pour the remainder of the mango syrup on top of the ice cream and using a chop stick to swirl the rest of the mangos into the ice cream.
6. Cover and freeze for 4-5 hours to get scoop-a-liscious ice cream.

NOTES:

• The salt in the mango syrup helps to stop the ice crystals forming in the freezer and enhances the sweetness of the mangoes.
• The salt in the ice cream base, helps to bring out the flavour of the coconut milk.
• The oil and vanilla extract help to soften the ice cream so that when you put it in the freezer it isn’t rock hard.