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| ©Andrea's easy vegan cooking |
I've been seeing lots of ice cream posts lately, so naturally, I wanted ice cream, too. The post that finally sent me over the edge was this one at eat'n veg'n. After I saw it all I could think about (other than gardening) was making ice cream. It's also been at the back of my mind that Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream is releasing an ice cream cookbook ("Vegan Scoop") in June and is going to do a virtual book tour on lots of blogs. The blog you are reading right now will be hosting Wheeler's virtual tour on July 7, and they've sent me an exclusive recipe to try out and share. But this isn't the recipe. I thought I'd wait until closer to the date of the tour before I posted that recipe. You're probably wondering how a virtual book tour works, and so am I. Guess we'll find out together.
The ice cream I saw on Diann's blog was made with cashews and fruit, and although I've made cashew ice cream before, I've never done it quite this way. She made hers with peaches and strawberries but mine is made with banana and mango. I used frozen mango so I could eliminate the "chill in the refrigerator for several hours" part because I am impatient that way. And I happened to have a bag of frozen mango from Trader Joe's that I've been adding to smoothies. And I wouldn't have to touch the mango skin.
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| ©Andrea's easy vegan cooking |
I used to love mangoes, especially the champagne mangoes I used to find three for $2 at Whole Foods. They were fabulous, and I ate them whenever I could. Then one day I must have gotten a little too enthusiastic and was kind of gnawing the inside of the mango skin to get every last drop of fruit. The next thing I knew my lips and the whole area around my mouth were red and swollen and covered in nasty, itchy, burning bumps and welts. I was horrified because for one thing it was ghastly looking and extremely painful, and for another, I did not want to be allergic to mangoes! I didn't eat mangoes for about two years.
My friend Lorraine said I was likely just allergic to the mango skin, but that I could probably still eat the fruit if I didn't touch the skin. She wears rubber gloves to peel the fruit and never touches the mango skin with her bare skin or she gets that horrible rash. I was too afraid to try until recently, when I was missing mangoes so much I bought the bag of frozen fruit. I added a few pieces to a smoothie and told my family that if I stopped breathing they should call 911. So far so good. I've consumed almost the entire bag without incident. However, from what I've learned about mango allergy, you can be allergic just to the skin, or to the whole fruit. So if this has happened to you, make sure you have access to medical help before you experiment with eating the fruit! Allergic reactions can be fatal.
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| ©Andrea's easy vegan cooking |
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk like coconut or soy)
- 1 banana (at least 1 cup of slices)
- 2 cups frozen mango chunks
- 2 large strawberries
- 1 to 2 teaspoons grated fresh gingerroot
- 1/2 cup agave syrup
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional but highly recommended because the bitter chocolate contrasts beautifully with the sweet mango flavor)
- In a blender, grind the cashews to a powder. Scrape down the sides to make sure all is ground.
- Add the rice milk and blend on high speed until very creamy. Check to make sure all graininess is gone.
- Add banana, agave and ginger, and blend.
- Add mango and strawberries and blend until mango is puréed.
- Freeze in an ice cream freezer. When almost frozen, add the chocolate chips, if using.
Read more about ice cream makers here. There's also a recipe for chocolate ice cream.
©Andrea's easy vegan cooking
I agree it's the creamiest ice cream ever, and I can't wait to try all kinds of fruity combos with this recipe, yours included!
ReplyDeleteI have a similar reaction to winter squashes. If I don't wash my hands immediately after peeling them, my hands swell and turn red and bumpy. But I have no problem eating them. Weird to have an allergy to the skin and not the fruit.
Diann,
ReplyDeleteIt must be grinding the cashews to a powder that makes the difference. I also added a cup of rice milk. I'm anxious to try your peach-strawberry combo but am waiting for better peaches. I'll probably use frozen strawberries for that.
I'm hoping the mango allergy stays with the mango skin and doesn't extend to the fruit at some later date.
Mihl,
ReplyDeleteThis was the best vegan ice cream recipe I've ever made. Hope you like it too.
Looks delicious - mango and banana are one of my favorite fruits! I love making homemade smoothies and ice cream with various fruits.
ReplyDelete[As for the green smoothies, I haven't tried too much ( haven't tried wheat grass yet), and when I do, I have to have a lot of fruit in it - banana pairs well :) ]
Yikes that's a really bad reaction to mango skin! I don't blame you for taking two years away from them!
ReplyDeleteAt least you know you can eat the fruit and it gives you an excuse to buy the all ready prepped and cut mango at the store:)
LK,
ReplyDeleteI love smoothies, too. Just not green ones. :)
sweetK,
The reaction lasted close to a week. Ugh. I suppose I could wear gloves and prepare fresh ones, and maybe I'll try that next.
um, that ice cream looks DANGEROUSLY delicious. i don't know what could be yummier than mango, banana, ginger, and chocolate! and that's really interesting about the mango skin. i've never heard of anyone having an allergy to just the skin of something!
ReplyDeleteMango allergy -- yikes! Well, I'm glad to hear that you can tolerate the flesh. Would be a shame to go without :)
ReplyDeleteIcecream looks just fab!
mmmmm.... It looks really good. it's difficult to get a good mango flavor in ice cream. I'll have to file it away for the day that I get an ice cream maker. someday...
ReplyDeletecardio,
ReplyDeleteThere's something in the mango skin related to poison ivy and poison oak, I think. So I guess the ice cream really is dangerously delish.
Lo,
I especially missed my mango smoothies!
Bethany,
My ice cream freezer is a manual Donvier that I got at a garage sale for $5. Got one last year for Claire, too. I've been using mine for years and it still works great.
Hi Andrea - I just wanted to thank you for this awesome recipe - even though I made some changes it still turned out beautifully. I'm letting the ice-cream freeze in my freezer for a few hours before I really dig in but I COULD NOT stop "testing" it... had to make sure it was edible, of course. :D
ReplyDeleteAs I said, I did make a few changes - I left out the ginger and chocolate because although I love both, I was really in the mood for simple mango ice cream. I had to use canned (drained and rinsed) mango, which I froze first (I used about 350g mango flesh). I added a teaspoon of vanilla and substituted sugar (1/4 cup each brown and white) for the agave since the "healthy" syrups cost an arm and a leg where I live unfortunately, due to being imported.
I also soaked the cashews in the rice milk overnight to soften them (because the blender I use is old and often won't grind raw nuts completely smooth) and it worked wonderfully.
The texture as I was spooning it out of my ice cream maker was like frozen yogurt and took me back to the summer I was fifteen and visiting the states and became addicted to TCBY... only this stuff is way better. So thank you! :D
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for letting me know about your ice cream. I'm glad you were able to make the changes and still have the texture come out creamy. I just made this a few days ago, and changed the recipe because I had some very ripe peaches on hand that I added with the mango. Soaking the cashews is a good idea but making ice cream is usually something I do spur of the moment so I take my chances with the blender!
Yum - love your blog. I'm trying recipe asap!
ReplyDelete