Take THAT! Lactose Intolerance!!!

Yummm.

Oh I am so excited about this post. I have long been dying to make my own ice cream. I used to make my own raw ice cream with recipes from I Am Grateful cookbook from Cafe Gratitude. I am not that committed to make my own nut milks every time. I'm supposed to be busy homeschooling my children, running my household, being artsy and all kinds of other things. So lately, I have been salivating over the recipes my friend from Against All Grain, a food blog for people with serious dietary restrictions, has been posting. When I saw the ingredients in her Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl recipe, I knew that it would be sweet, decadent and luxurious. My problem was that I didn't have an ice cream maker or the attachment to my Kitchen Aid that she recommends. So, remember the day that I was in Berkeley buying Cupkate's? Well, there was a guy on the corner handing out flyers and I tried to get by without him bugging me. You know what it's like with the ClipboardPeople, I was trying to scoot by so fast to the crosswalk that I almost got hit by a motorist. Turns out the guy was giving out coupons to Sur La Table and I felt like an idiot. Of course I wanted that! A 20% off coupon, a few minutes in Sur La Table and I had myself a shiny new ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid and got all excited about what possibilities awaited me in the kitchen now.

I tweaked only a few things in the recipe. We are not kissing goodbye, but extremely limiting Peanut Butter, so I used Almond Butter instead. I used Dagoba cocoa powder and chocolate. I added more honey to the almond butter because almond butter is NOT the same as peanut butter and needs a little lovin' to make it more desserty. I added some decaf instant coffee to the cocoa powder because coffee and chocolate bring out the best in each other, and of course some sea salt to enhance all of the flavors. So here is my mad little recipe with the tweaks. 

So freaking good!

3 farm fresh egg yolks 

(save the whites for a 0 pt omelette)

3 C coconut milk

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp of decaf instant coffee granules

1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

1/2 C honey

1 tsp vanilla 

(i always let a little more spill over)

1/2 C dark chocolate chunks

For the swirl:

1/4 C of almond butter, creamy

1 TBSP coconut oil

1/4 C of honey

If you love ice cream and are lactose intolerant

and/or just like healthier alternatives,

you will love love love this.

Worth the effort.

And it isn't hard, just time consuming, and again WORTH IT!!!!

I was very nervous about the process

and if you are too,

don't be!

I think these pictures will help you out.

Directions:

In a saucepan, whisk the eggs yolks, coconut milk, cocoa powder, instant coffee granules, sea salt, honey, and vanilla over 

medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, being careful not to let the mixture boil.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. And by "cover" I mean lay the plastic wrap right on top of the liquid so that there is no condensation. Honestly I found this to be the
hardest part because I was so paranoid.
I should have just chilled, no pun intended, because
even with the tiny bubbles everything turned out fine.

I was worried about those bubbles and painstakingly tried to get rid of each one. That was insane and useless. The bubbles didn't cause any damage.


Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

It's now ready for the ice cream maker. You will follow the manufacturers directions, but I want to give you one juicy tip: Just store the ice cream bowl attachment in the freezer. It takes 15 hours to get cold enough to make your ice cream perfect, so plan ahead or just leave it in the freezer and it's always ready when you are inspired.

So you will process the ice cream in the gadget for about 25 minutes. 

While processing stir together the Almond Butter mixture. 

Feed it in during the last 5 minutes, then the chocolate chunks.

(It will seem like it doesn't yield much, but JEEZ! It makes PLENTY! This is rich, swanky restaurant dessert rich, dessert.
A small ramekin serving is enough.

Transfer all the ice cream into an air tight container and lay that plastic wrap down again on the ice cream. This step keeps that nasty freezer burn off of your long awaited creation. You need to seal it shut and wait about 2 hours. 

This is the ugly duckling stage.

Now.

Enjoy.

mmm.

(I'll leave you alone now in your chocolate moment.)