Vegan MoFo Day 10: Something Blueberry Ice Cream

Today's prompt for the Vegan Month of Food is "Something Blue."

I wonder if anyone else will have had this problem--when I first heard blue, my first thought was, blueberries!



My next thought was blueberry ice cream!

I have been very much enjoying making vegan ice cream for the first time ever this year, having recently acquired an ice cream attachment for my stand mixer. It's a real game changer. So far, I've made several batches of ice cream using recipes from Veganomicon (both coffee flavor and green tea), which have been excellent. The texture is spot on (I haven't yet found something that quite compares!), but it is soy-based, and I wanted to come up with something soy-free.

A few weeks back I made the Minimalist Baker's bourbon caramel ice cream--which is amazing. I highly recommend it! I thought I would try combining the two recipes, and came up with this. The cashews are definitely a bit discernible, but the texture is good, particularly with the creaminess of the coconut milk. It does tend to get icy, however, over time. Try to eat it fresh!

As for the blue factor...I quickly discovered that blueberries make blueberry ice cream....purple.



Not to be out done, I tried adding some curacao liquer to my ice cream! It's bright blue, has a sweet taste, and will help with consistency, so I thought that would do the trick.



Not so much. Still purple:


So...in the end, I made a little curacao syrup to go on top! Definitely bright blue. And also quite tasty, if I do say so myself.

Blueberry Ice Cream with Curacao (and Curacao Syrup)

What You'll Need:
Blueberry mixture:
1 cup blueberries for stove
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp arrowroot
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp curacao

Ice cream base:
1.5 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight (or for at least 6 hours), then drained
1 14-ounce can full fat coconut milk
3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup sugar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tsp curacao (optional)

Curacao syrup (optional)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp Curacao

What You'll Need to Do:
Place ice cream attachment in freezer overnight. Place other ingredients in fridge to chill (especially coconut milk), preferably overnight.

Make your blueberry mixture. After blueberry mixture has cooled, add ice cream base ingredients to blender. Once blended, add in blueberry mixture. Transfer to your ice cream maker and churn for approximately 40 minutes (until ice cream reaches consistency of soft serve). Chill in freezer for 4-6 hours before eating. It will keep up to one week but best when fresh (if it's been in the freezer for a few days it makes a great milkshake! See below). 

Make caracao syrup (optional):
Mix water and sugar over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved, then simmer for 7 minutes. Add in Caracao and simmer for another 2 min, remove to heat and allow to cool.


Et, voila!



Tips and Tricks:
Shake it up!

This blueberry ice cream is totally amazing in milkshakes. Just add your favorite non-dairy beverage (about 2 parts ice cream to 1 part milk for a thick shake) blend and enjoy!

I made a cookies 'n cream milkshake with the bourbon caramel ice cream that was out of this world!