Typically I'll eat dairy with virtually every meal. If there is a way to incorporate yogurt or kefir into a dish, I will. Earlier this month I decided to give up dairy for a while, hoping it would motivate me to be a bit more creative with my cooking.
Things I have learned so far: not every sauce I make needs to be yogurt based, coconut oil + nutritional yeast flakes = delicious spread for toast, chocolate coconut milk ice cream is the richest, creamiest, yummiest ice "cream" I've ever had.
I first tried this recipe I found online, with a few adjustments:
- I used 3 eggs instead of 6.
- Instead of the cocoa powder (actually, in addition to the cocoa powder), I used a few handfuls of 60% chocolate chips, heated on a double boiler until melted, then mixed in with the coconut milk.
- In addition to the nutmeg, I added a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of ground cloves
I'll copy her recipe here in case the link goes dead someday:
Barbara Smith's Chocolate-Coconut Ice cream
http://sugarmagnolia.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/chocolate-coconut-ice-cream/For the cream:
* 2 cans full fat coconut milk
* 6 eggs
* pinch of salt
* 4 tablespoons of honey (more or less to taste)
* 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder (I used green & blacks)
* tablespoon vanilla
* teaspoon of nutmeg
* chocolate chunks (optional)
In a medium bowl, mix the honey, salt and cocoa powder into a paste, add the eggs and mix well. Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan on medium heat. When warm, pour it slowly on to the egg/honey mixture, a little bit at a time and whisking constantly (to prevent the eggs curdling). Pour that mix back into the saucepan and reduce heat, add vanilla and nutmeg and keep stirring until the cream coats the back of a spoon. Pour back into medium bowl, and cool in the fridge for about an hour.
That’s your base. At this point you could throw it in an ice cream machine (lucky you!). Or go about it the low-tech, primitive way, but warning–this will take a few hours and you might eat quite a bit of the cream on it’s way to becoming iced. siiigh. When the ice cream is almost solid and scoopable, add in the chocolate chunks or any other toppings/fillings you might like.
As I was making this, I realized that the coconut milk was thick enough on its own, and the recipe could probably do without the eggs. So yesterday I decided to attempt an egg-free version. The result was only slightly less rich, and just as creamy. I also used maple syrup instead of honey-- by mistake, really...I just thought that's what I had used the last time, and it turns out that either sweetener works just as well as the other one. I also used half a bar of 100% cacao:
which I probably wouldn't use again for this. It's really bitter (obviously), so I added more maple syrup until it tasted good, which ended up making it a little too sweet. Stick to semi-sweet or 60% bittersweet chocolate for this recipe.
One thing about this ice cream: it freezes faster and at a lower temperature than any dairy ice cream I've made (due to the lower sugar content, maybe?). A hard layer of it forms and sticks to the bottom and sides of the freezing canister of the ice cream machine
Don't try to scrape this off. Wait until it warms up a bit and softens and then just scoop it out (into your mouth
)It's also better to eat this ice cream straight from the machine if possible. It gets way too hard in the freezer, though letting it sit out for a few minutes before serving might fix that problem.
Now about the carrot cake...
I don't really like baking...I mean, I do, but it's a lot easier to end up with a disaster when straying from a recipe than it is with regular cooking. A few weeks ago I baked some brownies that tasted exactly like corn muffins. They were edible, I guess, but they weren't brownies.
Hmmm well so I wanted to make a carrot cake. A dairy-free carrot cake, so no butter. I had half a jar of coconut oil, so I wanted to use that. I also wanted to make it egg-free, but got nervous it wouldn't turn out right, so I settled on half eggs, half flaxseed egg replacement. Next time I'll try out all flaxseed; I think it'll work. (If someone else gives this a try, let me know how it turns out in the comments).
I sat down with 4 different recipes, calculating and compromising to come up with proportions that would result in something tasty.
The result was...well, not quite a carrot cake. More like a carrot muffin: cakey and crumbly. Actually, these would make really good muffins.
I'm quite happy with how it turned out, despite the fact it wasn't exactly what I was aiming for.
Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Ingredients:
(Small batch; double the recipe for a full batch)
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 tbs maple syrup or honey (or more/less to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 cup of semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips (or more/less to taste)
a pinch of salt (optional)
a pinch of nutmeg/cinnamon/ground cloves (optional)
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heavy bottom pan on low heat. When the chocolate is completely melted, pour in the coconut milk, a little at a time, stirring or whisking the mix to ensure complete incorporation. While the mixture is hot, stir or whisk in the sweetener and any optional ingredients. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let it sit in the fridge overnight or for a few hours until it is completely cooled.
Pour the mix into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Serve immediately.
If stored in the freezer, let stand 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Carrot Cake/Muffin
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unrefined coconut oil (any other vegetable oil is also ok)
3/4 cup sugar ( I prefer a less refined granulated sugar, like Florida Crystals, but white or even brown sugar should be fine as well)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tbs molasses (if you use brown sugar, omit the molasses)
2 large eggs left at room temperature 30 minutes
2 tbs whole flax seeds (or 5 tbs pre-ground flax seeds)
6 tbs water
2 cups flour (I used whole-wheat pastry flour, but all purpose flour should be fine)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups grated carrots (my original recipe called for 2.5 cups, but I didn't have enough carrots. If you try it out with 2.5 cups, let me know)
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 chocolate chips (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix well. Set aside.
- Grind the whole flax seeds in a blender or coffee grinder. (Skip this step if using pre-ground). In a bowl, whisk ground flax seeds and water until the mixture is gelatinous. Add the eggs to this mix and beat for about a minute. Set aside.
- Beat together the coconut oil and sugar in a large bowl. (If using another vegetable oil, you can skip this step and just add them to the egg/flax mixture). Slowly pour in the egg/flax mixture and the maple syrup, beating thoroughly until well incorporated. If the coconut oil starts to solidify, your eggs are too cold!
- To this, add the flour mixture and carrots, about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the two. After each addition, only mix enough to combine the ingredients. Do not overmix!
- Spread the batter evenly into the pan, and bake 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool 15 minutes before serving. Serve with Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream :)
