Blueberry vegan ice cream is made with a coconut base and is top 8 allergens and dairy free. This recipe uses an ice cream maker to firm it up and real blueberries.
Jump to:
The Story of the blueberry vegan ice cream. It is actually a Blueberry White Chocolate Coconut Non-Dairy Ice Cream. One of the first things we sorted out for the kids after we got the meal essentials sorted was what kind of ice cream they could have. It was something that made them feel more normal, more like everyone else. We tried a ton of ready made replacements from the store, some were good but so many were not cutting it for our kids. They found most to be icy and flavourless.
My sister sent the kids an ice cream maker, which the purchase of was a saga in itself. It turns out in off seasons you cannot find them for love nor money, when we did we were sent toasters instead?! Finally, we got the maker.
Equipment Needed:
An Ice Cream Machine or Churn, medium pot, fine mesh sieve, and cheese cloth.
What kind of ice cream maker is best for our blueberry vegan ice cream?
IT depends on how much freezer room you have. Ours is one that you store the bowl in the freezer and they can take up a lot of room but no more room than one of those vanilla pails we seemed to always have in the freezer in the 1980s. We leave ours in the freezer year round along with a few tins of coconut cream and milk. I find the freezing of the ice cream happens better when the components are pre-chilled. We also have tried various kinds of plant based milks. We settled on coconut as it gave us the creamiest ice cream and that was the number one priority of our kids.
Alternate Milks and Fats to Make Blueberry Vegan Ice Cream
If you cannot have coconut or don't like coconut flavours you can make it with another safe for you milk replacement. It may not be as creamy as the fat content is lower than in coconut. If you can have avocado It will up the fat content to add some of one in place of coconut cream. If you are using a different milk or banana for creaminess they will need slight flavour adjustments though in the blueberry vegan ice cream.
Our Blueberry Vegan Ice Cream Recipe Includes:
Coconut Milk:
Tinned coconut works best. It is best for most cooking with coconut milk. Let it sit in the fridge overnight to get it really cold and help the ice cream firm quicker.
Coconut Cream:
If you cannot get pure cans of the cream in your local store, try in the international section as it is really common in Asian cooking. An alternative is to chill twice as many coconut milk tins overnight, open them the next day and skim off the hardened cream, it may be solid. do not shake the can before you do this.
Vanilla Sugar:
You can use regular sugar, vegan, of course. You can also buy pre-made vanilla sugar but I put one vanilla pod in 2 Kgs of sugar in a sealed jar and shake often so it doesn't clump and let it flavour for a week. I leave my pod in and just add to it as I use the sugar, shaking to mix and let sit another week or so, again.
Vanilla Extract:
We make ours with but you can get a good quality ready made one within your budget at most stores.
White Chocolate:
Make sure it is safe. We prefer No Whey Polar White Bars as dairy free white chocolate that is safe for us is hard to get where we live.
Blueberries:
I find fresh works the best here. It is basically the start to blueberry jam but you use the pulp in the ice cream. You could use the drained juice to make jam or jelly, I like to use it in soda water, mixed drinks, and dressings.
Adaptations
This recipe can be made with any berry or fruit. Strawberry or raspberry are excellent flavours for this recipe. The chocolate can be switched to a safe dark chocolate. Adding in cookie bits or cake chunks will add lots of flavour and keep the flavours new and exciting.
My personal favourite adapted flavour of this ice cream is to use the coconut flavours of the milk. Add in safe coconut flakes, make sure they don't have a 'may contain' warning. Put pineapple in as the fruit in place of the blueberries. Save the pineapple strained out to make the coconut pineapple dip for coconut chicken tenders. Another use for the strained fruit in fizzy water as a tropical drink.
Storing Tips for Blueberry Vegan Ice Cream
Storage
This ice cream is only well suited to freezer storage.
-Freezer
The ice cream will keep for up to 4 months in a sealed container in a deep freeze. Keep for upto 2 months in a fridge freezer.
Reheating
No reheating is necessary, obviously with ice cream. Let it sit on the counter if it has been stored in the freezer to soften slightly before scooping.
What To Serve With Blueberry Vegan Ice Cream
This ice cream is great on its own as a dessert in the summer or in an ice cream cake. It can be paired with a vanilla cake and a cup of tea. For a homemade bowl use the Gluten Free Pizzlles recipe to make a bowl in a muffin tin.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- The pulp of 1lb blueberries drained
- ½ C water
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cans coconut cream
- ½ C vanilla sugar
- 2 tsps Vanilla extract
- Topping:
- One no whey white chocolate bar
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- ½ C fresh blueberries
Instructions
- In a medium pot put 1lbs fresh blueberries and ½ c water. Bring to a boil.
- Remove the pot from the stove to mash the berries and return to heat. Turn down heat to a simmer.
- Let simmer for 15 mins.
- Line a fine mesh strainer with three ply cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Pour over the blueberry mix and let drip and cool for 1 hour. (Can be left overnight to drain)
- In a large bowl combine the coconut milk, coconut cream, vanilla sugar, and vanilla extract. Add in the cooled blueberry pulp (the stuff in the cheesecloth from the stewed blueberries).
- Prepare your ice cream maker and pour in the tub to churn as per the machine’s instructions. ***if you have a tub that holds less than 3 qts you may need to make 2 batches. Watch your 3 quart machine as it does get big fast***
- When churning is almost finished break one vegan white chocolate bar in to bits and put in a small microwave safe bowl with coconut oil. Microwave until just melted.
- Once fully churned, if you want to eat it straight away serve in bowls and drizzle with white chocolate and top with fresh blueberries.
- If you made it ahead, put ⅓ of the frozen dessert in a loaf or cake pan.
- Drizzle with ¼ of the white chocolate.
- Put another ⅓ of frozen dessert in the pan and drizzle with ¼ of the melted white chocolate.
- Put the last ⅓ of dessert in the pan and top with ¼ of the chocolate then top with fresh berries and drizzle with remaining chocolate.
- Store in the freezer covered well for 2-4 months. Pull from freezer and let sit for 5-10 mins before serving.
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment and us know how much you liked it.