I was thinking of having "If you change the ingredients in a recipe, results will vary" tattooed on my forehead, but there wasn't enough room. (Although if my hairline keeps receding at this rapid pace, it may happen sooner than you think.) When I used to teach classes, folks were always wanting to tinker with recipes, especially ice cream, replacing the cream with what-have-you. Or to replace the sugar with something else. I'm not sure why, because I spend an inordinate amount of my life developing and testing recipes to get them just right.
Unless I've personally tested it, it's pretty hard to give my nod of approval and tell what will and what won't work in recipes, especially when it comes to swapping out sweeteners and dairy products since their counterparts behave quite differently than one might think. Ice cream, of course, depends on cream to give it that particular texture and flavor. But I do like and use non-dairy alternatives at home on occasion and saw no reason why I couldn't churn up a batch of ice cream without a drop of dairy.
I started with soy milk, thinking that it had the richest flavor of them all and was the most readily available. But my first batch of ice cream had a murky taste, perhaps because I used agave nectar as well with it. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't digging my spoon back in to the container or licking the canister clean when I pulled out the ice cream.
I then considered rice milk, which has a less-pronounced flavor, although it's slightly less-rich than soy milk. I invited over Theresa Murphy, who teaches vegetarian cooking classes in Paris to come by for a taste and she said the best rice milk in France is an Italian brand, Isola. So I dashed right over to biocoop, a chain of natural food stores in France, and grabbed a liter.
Because rice milk is light, and macerating the strawberries for an hour before blending them up augments their flavor, you'll find this strawberry ice cream will have a very intense color and the flavor of the strawberries will really come through. One trick I'll pass along is that if you're strawberries aren't perfectly ripe, you can add a tablespoon of crème de cassis. I usually keep a bottle on hand just for that purpose, although I didn't need to use any here because it's the middle of strawberry season and the strawberries were pretty terrific.
I also get plenty of questions about alternative sweeteners, and while I like agave nectar, I found that when used as the primary sweetener in this ice cream, the flavor overpowers the strawberries. So I stuck with granulated cane sugar. (You can use refined or light unrefined.) I add a few spoonfuls of honey which add a nice background sweetness and helps keep the frozen ice cream scoopable. I realize that I'm probably stepping on a minefield with that one since there is a debate in the vegan community whether or not honey is vegan. If you don't eat honey, replace it with an equal amount of another liquid sweetener or sugar.
Adding a bit of kirsch or another liquor keeps the ice cream softer once churned. Traditional ice cream has fat to keep it smooth. But if you don't plan to eat this ice cream shortly after churning, you might want to take it out of the freezer to let it soften until it's scoopable. The kirsch is optional and you can check out other options at Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream Softer.
Folks often ask why chunks of fruit freeze too hard in ice creams. It's because fruit is mostly water (most fruit is at least 80% water, and strawberries are nearly 91% water ) and we all know what happens when water freezes. So unless you plan to eat the ice cream soon after churning, they're going to freeze pretty solidly. For this ice cream, I puree it just to the point that it's liquidy, but there are still slight bits of strawberries. You can also puree it until completely smooth and strain out the seeds, if that's your preference. (See? I do offer some choices.)
Good non-dairy accompaniments to a scoop of this strawberry ice cream are a nice dousing with chocolate sauce, alongside a dish of warm nectarine and cherry compote or red wine-poached rhubarb.
Or serve pieces of candied ginger alongside, spoon crystals of strawberry granita alongside and serve them together in a large goblet, or serve a scoop in a glass with a splash of peach leaf wine.
Vegan Strawberry Ice CreamMakes 1 1/4 quarts (1.25l)
Use very ripe, tasty strawberries for this. Rice milk has a neutral flavor so the strawberries should really do most of the work in this. I don't strain out the seeds in this ice cream. But you can strain them all out, or just some of them.
As mentioned, I did try soy milk and didn't like the taste. But for a richer ice cream, you can replace half of the rice milk with coconut milk. For those who eat dairy, you can use heavy cream in place of the rice milk.
I left the liquor optional because some people avoid alcohol, but it does help keep the ice cream softer once frozen; since rice milk doesn't have the fat of cream, it helps to keep the ice cream smoother. As mentioned, because this ice cream has much less fat than traditional ice cream, it will become quite firm when frozen for a long period of time. So eat it shortly after churning or remove it from the freezer before scooping, to give it time to soften.
1 1/2 pounds (700g) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1/2 cup (100g) sugar (or 1/2 cup, 125ml agave nectar)
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups (375ml) plain rice milk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
optional: 2 teaspoons kirsch, vodka, or orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
1. Slice the berries and toss them with the sugar (or agave) and honey, and let them macerate for one hour at room temperature.
2. Puree the berries and their liquid with the rice milk, lemon juice and liquor, if using, with a standard or immersion blender.
You can puree it until completely smooth and strain out some or all of the seeds by pressing the mixture through a mesh sieve. Or you can leave it slightly chunky and omit straining it.
3. Taste, and add more lemon juice or liquor*, if desired.
4. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
*You can add up to 3 tablespoons of liquor to this ice cream; the alcohol softens the texture so the more you add, the less-hard the ice cream will get. You can find more tips at the links below.
Related Posts and Recipes
Making Ice Cream Without a Machine
Tips for Vegetarian Dining in Paris
Vegetarian Restaurants in Paris
The Vegan Scoop (Amazon)
Ingredients for American Baking in Paris
I think I'm going to have to give this one a try. I made vegan ice cream once from one of our cookbooks (not vegan, but love the variety it offers). This one called for silken tofu, and I promise you that I'm never having it again. Ooof, that was terrible. You may want to add that to your list of banned products. At any rate, this one sounds much nicer. And the strawberries here are just gorgeous right now!
This looks beautiful! We don't eat dairy, so this will go down a treat I'm sure! It's the middle of winter here in New Zealand so I'd have to try it out with frozen berries, should be ok aye? If defrosted first? Another great idea that I make for my kids, is to just blend frozen bananas with frozen berries and a little bit of soy milk until creamy and ice cream like.....then eat immediately. Yum, thanks David.
I agree, if there's no temptation to lick the canister clean, it's just not worth the effort of making it in the first place. I'm curious, if you make this gorgeous looking dessert with rice milk, does it taste creamy like ice cream, or does it taste more like a sorbet?
Emm: Yes, you can use frozen strawberries. Ones that are IQF (individually quick frozen) and unsweetened.
Heather: I was surprised that the flavor of the soy milk ice cream wasn't so great. I know there's a difference in certain soy milk brands, so perhaps another one might have been better. But the rice milk hit the right flavors for me.
When just-churned, it has a texture and flavor of smooth gelato, yet when frozen, it has a fruity, sherbet-like feel because of the reduced fat.
Great looking ice cream. I never knew it could be made with non-dairy ingredients.
Thanks for a vegan recipe, I read your blog religiously to get ideas I can veganise but this is a treat. And you're right about the honey, but we won't go there!
The only vegan ice cream I have ever had has been made with young thai coconuts. Good to know you don't have to use them since they cost an arm and a leg!
What a delicious looking ice-cream, I recently discovered your blog and it's beautifully photographed food and great recipes and am really enjoying reading. Thanks!
Thanks for the post. As a person who is so lactose intolerant looking at gelato hospitalizes me I appreciate this post. I am going to try it this summer, which means, NOW
Like! Please keep posting on these vegan friendly YET tasty desserts!
Almond milk is my FAVORITE non-dairy milk. It doesn't have the beany flavor of soymilk, but is more creamy and robust in texture than rice milk. The almond flavor is very subtle, not overpowering at all. Think raw almonds, not marzipan! Right now, I love using it to make puddings.
I'm not sure how available it is in France, but it's becoming quite easy to find in the US. I have seen it at almost every grocery store in my area (Dallas/Fort Worth metro) near the organic milk and soy milk.
Half almond milk, half coconut milk sounds like a good mix with strawberry!
This sounds great!
I'm not vegan, but LOVE ice creams and try to cut my absurdly high double cream consumption and especially glad it uses rice milk, which I much prefer to soy.
One question: is it sweetened or unsweetend rice milk? Some has insane amounts of sugar (equal to soda) and that would obviously affect recipe.
In return: in exploring vegan and 'raw' options for ice cream, I discovered one of my all time favourites: cashew nut butter, water and medjool dates -blitzed and churned. That's all. Can't remember the measurements I thought worked best on top of my head , but have it written down at home if this is of interest...(Cashew nut butter you can get from health food shops)---you can even add cocoa powder for a very rich chocolate ice cream...
sian: Yes, the recipe calls for 'plain' rice milk, without flavorings or sugar.
Amy: There is almond milk here, I believe, but many people are allergic to nuts, so I used rice milk.
Jessica: Young coconuts are great, but I can't imagine most folks having access to them. Plus that's quite a bit of labor!
hmm... how would a non-dairy creamer (that powdery thing they use for coffee) work in "enriching" this one?
the only acceptable boxed soymilk i've tried so far is the Silk brand. the chocolate flavor doesn't even taste like soymilk. i love fresh soymilk though... maybe that will work better?
I've been making boatloads of your ice cream in the past few weeks. The salted butter caramel, mint chip, and peach have all been fantastic! But even though I'm not vegan, I appreciate a lighter recipe every once in awhile...really, all these frozen treats are going to be my downfall otherwise. :)
It looks delicious. I never wanted to try substituting non-dairy ingredients because I was worried about the fat content, so this looks like a good place to start. I know you don't want people to make changes, but strawberry season is already past here and I'm seeing a lot of peaches. Peaches don't seem far from strawberries in water content, not like trying to substitute watermelon.. what do you think? :)
Isn't this really a strawberry-rice sorbet when it comes right down to it?
You should have been on Top Chef Masters! Art Smith got eliminated when he made a dessert for vegans and bought strawberry rice ice cream instead of making it himself. He said he didn't feel comfortable making a vegan ice cream. One problem though- I thought vegans didn't eat honey because its an animal product?
Jenny: You could use peaches; I would peel & cook them first then puree them. Am not sure of the quantity without testing it myself, though ; )
Tags: Sorbets don't have any dairy (or on a technicality, perhaps one could stretch that to say dairy 'like'?) products in them. Sherbets do, although Italian gelati sometimes only have fruit puree, milk, and sugar, similar to this.
Yet you're probably right, although I'm not sure if the definition of sorbet includes anything like rice. Maybe this could be called Vegan Strawberry Iced Rice Milk??
Thanks for the recipe!
But correction -- there is no debate in the vegan community as to whether honey is vegan. It's not; that's a fact. While some people who identify as vegan do consume honey, and that is their own choice to make, it is not vegan.
Sorry for poking, but there *is* a debate in the vegan community as to whether honey is vegan. Whether or not it's a settled question for RJM, there's obviously a number of people for whom the issue isn't so clear cut.
http://www.compassionatespirit.com/is-honey-vegan.htm
http://www.slate.com/id/2196205/
http://www.veganmeat.com/honey.html
Hi RJM: I'm not the expert on vegan diets or veganism, so I yield that to others, but was interested in reading the various debates at Vegan Action and an interesting article on Slate, The Great Vegan Honey Debate. For that reason, I presented a version with honey and an alternative without.
On a similar note, I was surprised when I toured a sugar refinery a few years ago and learned granulated sugar is filtered through bone char. The scientist leading the tour told me he was vegetarian, and that the sugar was indeed vegetarian.
People seek variations on recipes for all sorts of reasons. Some of us have to consider health as well as taste (I use a low carb diet to maintain normal blood glucose instead of taking diabetes drugs, while at the same time I focus on foods that have a long tradition of supporting healthy populations, as well as limit processed "fake food" ingredients which are novel to the human diet).
I understand ice cream isn't considered a "health" food, but it need not be a "bad food". Homemade ice cream certainly can be much a healthier indulgence than highly sweetened and artificially flavored commercial ice cream, esp when made with much lower amounts of sugar, as well as milk and cream from pastured dairy herds and rich egg yolks from pastured hens.
Sometimes I make ice cream with coconut "milk" instead of dairy cream and milk. Coconut milk has a rich silky mouthfeel like cream as well as the fat I think ice cream needs (fat also slows the absorption of sugar into the blood stream and doesn't create incredibly high BG spikes like low-fat ice cream and frozen yogurt does). I don't use any soy analog foods, and the starch in rice "milk" wouldn't meet my LC needs. I've made almond "milk" which I'd consider trying in homemade ice cream, but I wouldn't use commercial almond milk as it's too processed and full of additives and usually sweeteners. BTW, almond milk dates back a long time; it has a long history of used in the Middle East and Meditterean region as well as in Medieval European cooking on the many Holy Days that forbade dairy.
One way I increase scoopability of homemade dairy ice cream is to reserve some of the heavy cream and softly whip it before folding it into the rest of the ingredients just before churning in the ice cream machine. This increases volume somewhat, so care must be taken not to overfill the freezer bowl or it will spill out as it expands during freezing. This way ice cream is scoobable after just a couple minutes out of the freezer - even when stored in my deep freeze (which at -15°F is much colder than my refrigerator freezer).
I think you need to find a new name for this concoction. Obviously, it's not ice cream if it's not made with cream.
Great post, the first sentence made me laugh. You made me feel better for not wanting to tinker with your recipes.
I wish this was available a couple of weeks ago when I tried to make strawberry ice cream- I made it with cornstarch instead of eggs just to see, and the resulting ice cream was rock hard. A veritable brick. Why would that be? I thought that cornstarch worked as a stabilizer too, and it was Mark Bittman's recipe.
Anyway, thanks for being my ice cream guru.
starman1695: I, too, am amused when people put chicken on a salad and call it a "Chicken Caesar", serve an espresso that's far more than a tablespoon of liquid, or use cooked vegetables (or a worse infraction to the Provencal: grilled tuna!) on a salade Niçoise.
However in some instances, names get tweaked because certain foods are modified to meet dietary guidelines. For this case, I tend follow our neighbors in Italy at the gelaterias, whose definition is perhaps more expansive than those used elsewhere as well as their ice creams (gelati) have less butterfat, and often only use milk, or soy milk, as I recently saw on my trip to Rome.
Fantastic recipe! Will give it a try for the dairy sensitive grandchildren. This should make their day.
Since, as you say, "If you change the ingredients in a recipe, results will vary," I hope you'll humor this question!
I was looking through all your ice cream recipes last night, and noticed the recurring amount of egg yolks was five. I have my own hens, and they lay very large eggs. Ridiculously large eggs, actually. So I was wondering last night, as I drooled all over my computer screen, how many grams (or ounces, if you prefer) 5 egg yolks should be?
Thanks so much!
~Kat
I thought you wrote "Fools often ask why chunks of fruit freeze too hard in ice creams." As it turns out, that's essentially what you meant anyway.
Looks amazing David! We have been buying beautiful organic strawberries at our local farmers' market and have been eating them as is (in all their pure glory), but if I start to get bored I will give this recipe a try. I made coconut milk ice cream not long ago during my vegan kick, but it was too intense for me. I'll make sure to try rice milk next time:)
Thanks for the tips. I am glad you used rice milk instead of soy. I like the flavor of rice milk more than soy.