Wow! I can’t believe how great this recipe (slightly adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet) turned out! Even though I can eat raw cows’ milk products with no problems, I will make this again and again. I had to scramble to give it away before I ate the entire batch. Fortunately, we have a five-year-old girl living next door who was recently diagnosed with a milk allergy. I’m guessing she hasn’t had ice cream in a long time, so I took a generous serving over there for her gastronomic delight. Then I shared some with our boarder. All told, after my husband ate some too, I consumed a reasonable amount. Thank goodness for friends and neighbors!
Verdict: we all adored this ice cream.
It was wonderful soft-serve style straight out of the ice cream maker. After about an hour of curing in the freezer, it was still fantastic. Later than that, it got a bit too firm for my taste, but setting it out the counter cured that in a jiffy.
Although I will certainly experiment with this recipe, I want to go ahead and post it because it’s fantastic as-is, and I don’t want my friends to live without it any longer than absolutely necessary (that means you, Marie). As you can see in the recipe below, I used half agave nectar and “half” stevia to sweeten the dessert. In the future, I may try using all stevia. Using these sweeteners makes this ice cream ideal for diabetics and hypoglycemics. Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index than sugar (although there is some debate on agave’s overall healthfulness), and stevia has no impact on blood sugar at all (and zero calories), as it’s simply the extract of a sweet herb.
Other planned modifications include using melted unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa powder [Update 9/7/08: This didn't work well texturally], adding a little vodka to the batter to keep it from freezing too hard, and adding chili and cinnamon for a Mayan twist [Update 9/7/08: The cinnamon was great! Shredded coconut works nicely too]. I’ll definitely update this recipe with the results of my experiments.
An important note: do not attempt to use light coconut milk. It will not produce the same texture or flavor, and, on top of that, you’ll miss out on the great health benefits of the medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut. Also be careful not to accidentally pick up coconut cream, an entirely different and heavily sweetened product. If even goats’ milk is a problem for you or a family member, use all coconut milk, which is how the recipe was originally written. You can find agave nectar and stevia in your local health food store or Whole Foods-type market and some HEB locations. The stevia hangs out in the supplements section.
Chocolate Coconut Dairy-Free Ice Cream
(slightly adapted from a recipe by Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet, a great blog with many healthy recipes)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (I used Thai organic, which is a high-quality brand)
~1 cup raw goats’ milk (when added to the coconut milk, enough to bring liquid volume to 3 cups)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (use a high-quality one because you’ll really be able to taste it)
1/4 cup amber agave nectar
24 drops stevia (the equivalent of 4 tablespoons of sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pour the coconut milk into a large measuring cup and add enough goats’ milk to equal a total of 3 cups of liquid.
Pour about 1 cup into a small bowl and gradually add the cocoa powder, whisking vigorously to remove all lumps.
Add the cocoa mixture to the rest of the milk and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Prepare the dessert according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
For dairy-free recipe ideas, visit Kimi’s blog, The Nourishing Gourmet. I think you’ll like it!
Alison,
This is very close to the vanilla version that I mentioned to you at church. I was going to make Chocolate ice cream tomorrow with my fresh goat’s milk and now I won’t have to guess at the recipe!
I will let you know how my kiddos like it. The vanilla version didn’t last long at all….
Marjorie,
I’d love to have your vanilla recipe. I couldn’t remember it once I got home. I hope you all enjoy the chocolate. I can’t wait to make this again!
1 1/2 cups goat’s milk
1 can whole coconut milk (equals almost 1 1/2 c.)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar or whatever alternative sugars will equal this sweetness.
I did use 3/4 cup of erythritol the first time. the ice cream was sweet enough, but the fermented sugar seemed to leave a burning sensation in the back of your throat….odd..
I will try the agave/stevia mix recommended in the chocolate recipe.
You can add any pureed fruit to the above recipe as well. I added 1 cup of strawberries and that was very yummy.
This ice cream does have a coconut flavor. You could make it with 3 cups of goat’s milk, but then it freezes VERY hard and you have to really use some muscle to get the ice cream dipped, thus I experimented with coconut milk for the fat content.
Thank you, Marjorie! I’ll have to try this very soon. Although I’m not big on plain vanilla ice cream, the prospect of fruit additions sounds lovely. The strawberry idea particularly tickles my fancy. I can’t wait to do some experimenting…
I want to share a great place where I always shop for organic and gluten free products. WholeAndNatural.com. They have lots of great stuff.
Hi, I have a question… I have powdered stevia. can I use that instead? thanks…
Hi, Amy! As far as I know, yes, you should be able to use stevia powder instead. I don’t know for sure, since I’ve never tried it myself, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work the same way (unless the powder has more of an aftertaste than the liquid). I poked around on the internet to find a conversion chart. It looks like you would use 1 tsp of stevia powder instead of 24 drops of stevia. Here’s the website where I found the conversion chart:
https://shop.bodyecology.com/prodinfo.asp?number=BE009
I hope this helps. Thanks so much for commenting! Let me know how it goes if you decide to try the ice cream.
Wow. This sounds good. Any thoughts, ladies, about an ice cream maker. It looks like I am going to have to buy one.
I asked the very same question of another (more established) food blogger. She uses the Cuisinart ICE-20 that costs $50 just about anywhere. It’s the kind of ice cream maker that allows you to freeze the bowl itself, rather than mess with ice and rock salt. (read: no rust, less noise, less messy clean-up) I ended up buying the attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, because it requires less storage space for me. Plus, the Kitchen Aid attachment holds 2 quarts, while the Cuisinart only holds 1.5 quarts. If you’re really serious about ice cream making, you can spend hundreds of dollars on a self-freezing machine. Personally, I’m not yet at that stage. I’m very happy with my $80 purchase at this point.
If you want the Cuisinart (or the Kitchen Aid attachment, for that matter), I recommend going to Bed Bath & Beyond and using a 20% off coupon to buy it. It’s the best price I’ve seen, even considering internet sources like Amazon. You’ll need to place the bowl in the coldest part of your freezer with your freezer on the coldest setting for 24 to 48 hours before making dessert. If you follow these guidelines, everything should work beautifully!
This recipe was such a great help, thanks! I used only agave nectar (1/2 c.) and found it a bit too sweet. I would knock it down to 3/8 c. next time. I also added shaved coconut, but toasted it first, which cut the sweetness of the mixture a bit. Finally, I used 1/2 tsp of Vanilla extract as well as 1/2 tsp of Coconut extract. Divine!
Thanks for the feedback! I’m so glad you liked the ice cream! You’ll have to thank Kimi of http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com for the original inspiration. Yes, since agave nectar is sweeter than sugar/equivalent stevia, I can imagine that 1/2 cup might have been a bit much. I’m sorry that happened to you.
Maybe I should make a note in the recipe about this issue. I think Kimi originally wrote the recipe with 3/8 cup agave (6 tablespoons).
I recently tried shaved coconut in the ice cream, and I loved it too. But I didn’t think to toast it first. Clever! I’ll give that a try soon. Something else we really liked was a little bit of cinnamon in it. Yum! Definitely let me know if you come up with any more brilliant add-ins. I’m all ears.
er… there is DAIRY in this recipe
Seamus,
I see your point. You’re right that there are milk products in the recipe. It has generally been my understanding, however, that “dairy” refers to cows’ milk products and not goats’ milk products. Perhaps I am mistaken, though everyone I know who cannot have dairy (cows’ milk products) can have goats’ milk products but still call themselves dairy-free. But I think that to avoid future confusion, I will amend the title. Thanks for pointing this out. If you’re still interested in the recipe, I know that Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet blog makes the ice cream with 100% coconut milk. I’m sure it’s fabulous!
I would love to see a completely dairy-free and sugar free (using ONLY stevia) basic ice cream recipe somewhere.
Anyone have one that works?
HMK,
Why, actually, now that you mention it, I do have a recipe like that in the works! I just received some new, better-quality stevia in the mail (NuNaturals brand), and I plan to make ice cream this weekend sweetened 100% with it. I’ll post my results here. Since you asked, I’ll go ahead and make it a 100% coconut milk ice cream too. Now I just have to figure out the flavor…coconut strawberry? Coconut-pineapple? Coconut chocolate? Or just plain coconut vanilla? Decisions, decisions.
I found out 4 years ago that I have IBS and have not been able to have milk or wheat since. I’m also allergic to soya but i’m able to drink goats milk. i would like to thank you for this ice cream recipe as this is the biggest thing that i miss. it very good thanks
Hi Alison!
Thanks for your “experimenting”! I’ve learned alot from you. So did you ever make this with 100% coconut millk and 100% stevia? I’m dying to hear how it went!!
Sorry for asking but is there a way to stop spam? My sites are getting hammered recently with spam. I’ve heard about akismet but that doesn’t do it do you know of another suggestions? : ).