The Best Non-Dairy Ice Cream that Tastes Like Regular Ice Cream, Really Though
I know what you are thinking right now of course non-dairy ice cream is not going to taste as good as real ice cream. You’ll say this until you try Van Leeuwen ice cream. I agree most non-dairy ice cream is super hard/icy, doesn’t scoop well and lacks creaminess. The difference with Van Leeuwen ice cream is that the base is cashew and coconut milk, which has a similar fat content to normal ice cream which ranges from 10% to 16%. The second key ingredient is cocoa butter which adds a unique flavor and improves the texture. Van Leeuwen has both dairy and non-dairy (vegan) flavors and the flavors range from classics like mint chip to salted caramel to passion fruit and planet earth (spirulina & matcha cake).
So how can you try this ice cream?
Option 1: Go to a store. NYC or LA (Stores & Trucks are all over NYC and a couple in LA in the Arts District, Culver City and Venice.
Option 2: Make your own! I highly recommend this if you don’t live in NYC or LA, or even if you do
Vegan Ice Cream Base — Adapted from “Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream”
Tools:
Ice cream maker
Blender (ideally Vitamix)
Immersion Blender
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews / 1 cup water + more for soaking
1 cup coconut milk
60g cocoa butter
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp water
The day before you make the ice cream ensure your ice cream maker bowl is put in the freezer (if your ice cream maker requires you to freeze the bowl). Also put 1 cup of cashews in a bowl or mason jar and cover with water to soak (soak for at least 8 hours).
Drain the water from the cashews and put the cashews in a blender with 1 cup of fresh water. Blend high for 2 minutes until you have a smooth cashew milk. This will make 2 cups of cashew milk. You can save 1 cup for another batch of ice cream or something else.
Put 1 cup of cashew milk and 1 cup of coconut milk in a 2qt+ bowl and set aside.
In a sauce pan heat sugar and 4 tsp water on low until sugar dissolves. Add coca butter and coconut oil and stir until melted. Add salt and mix until dissolved.
Add sugar/cocoa butter/coconut oil mixture to the cashew/coconut milk mixture and immediately mix with an immersion blender. Chill mixture for 3 to 4 hours. If you chill longer the mixture might get thick and may need an additional blend with an immersion blender.
Now you are ready to make the ice cream. Spin the mixture in your ice cream maker until it is the texture of hard soft serve. This is where I add in the toppings directly into the ice cream maker bowl and mix by hand. You can also add in the toppings into your ice cream maker when there are a few minutes left, but I find it is hard to gauge how much time is left. Some good toppings are honeycomb, chocolate, cherries, really you can add anything here. Put ice cream in a freezer container and freeze overnight.
Honeycomb ice cream has been my favorite so far, so here’s the recipe for the honeycomb topping.
Honeycomb Recipe
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon baking soda sifted (sifting it is important)
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey (don’t use raw honey)
Pinch or two of Maldon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Collect all the ingredients so you are ready to move fast for this recipe. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and have a silicon spatula on hand.
In a large pot add sugar, honey and salt. Heat mixture to 295 degrees Fahrenheit while mixing continuously. The mixture should be an autumn brown when done.
Turn off the heat and immediately add in the vanilla extract and baking soda. The mixture will start to expand rapidly, but keep stirring until the baking soda is completely mixed in. Quickly poor the mixture onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Do not try to spread the mixture with the spatula, just let it flatten on it’s own. Cool for 20 minutes. Once the honeycomb has cooled you can break it apart into pieces. Break the honeycomb into small pieces for the ice cream, almost crushed but still pieces. Now you can mix this in with your finished ice cream. The honeycomb will melt into the ice cream and give you rich honeycomb flavored ribbons in your ice cream. It is delicious!
