Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice cream has always been a big part of Pat and my relationship. In particular we have been devoted to Dairy Queen. It was a perfect destination and provided a sweet opportunity to be together sharing stories over spoonfuls of blizzards. Now a family of four (five if you count Lucy the dog – and of course, Lucy counts), we frequent the Dairy Queen down the road to celebrate kids’ concerts well played, difficult losses on the court or field, or perhaps just a distraction to cool off on a hot summer day.

As we have aged, our tolerance for the dairy in Dairy Queen has waned, but we still adore ice cream and the specialness that it provides to any given day. It’s the quintessential sweet treat.

So last year, we decided to start making our own ice cream – especially dairy free ice cream that would benefit our bodies and the environment.

Until this week, we’ve had great success using coconut cream and coconut milk as a base. It’s absolutely delicious as a chocolate ice cream, but we were wanting to explore other non-coconut bases in hopes of playing with more subtle flavors that might be overshadowed by the coconut. 

So, we gave the Domestic Gothess’ Recipe: Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream a whirl in our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine. This recipe uses cashews, oats, and soy milk as a base. 

We tweaked the recipe by replacing all the sugar with honey and reducing some of the vanilla. 

And . . . well. . . it yielded an okay ice cream that I felt was too gummy (from the guar gum – although honey can also contribute to this texture), and while the honey flavor was nice, it wasn’t as delicious against the soy flavor. We found that adding toppings like homemade granola, cashews, chocolate syrup and coconut flakes helped to dress it up.

So, in conclusion, we will continue to play with vegan bases and various add-ins as we are driven by our passion for ice cream treats that are delicious, digestible, and good for the environment. 

PS Do check out all of the recipes at domesticgothess.com – their vegan baking recipes are good as gold! We have been delighted by them!