How to make vegan ice cream

What are the options?

When you’re making vegan ice cream, you have a few different methods to choose from. For example, you can make ice cream using dairy substitutes but generally following a classic recipe, you can use banana to emulate the texture, or you can make a dairy-free sorbet.

The route you choose to go down will depend on the texture you’re aiming for, and your choice of flavours.

For example, while you can make chocolate sorbet, lots of people prefer the creamier texture provided by the addition of some kind of milk.

Similarly, you might prefer not to use banana in this scenario as, of course, you can taste it in the final product.

What is the classic recipe for ice cream?

There are two main methods of making ice cream: the French method, and the American.

In the French method, you make a custard using egg yolks, cream, milk and sugar. You have to cook the custard first to get the right consistency before cooling and eventually freezing it.

The American method (also known as Philadelphia style) doesn’t use eggs, and you don’t have to make a custard. You simply churn milk, cream and sugar together with your chosen flavourings.

Philadelphia-style ice cream is easier and faster to make, but the resulting texture isn’t quite as creamy.

What about gelato?

If you’ve ever been on holiday to Italy you will know that the Italians have their very own method of making ice cream - and it’s also very delicious!

Italian ice cream is often called gelato.

Gelato simply plays with the ratio of the key ingredients of ice cream. Usually, gelato has a higher proportion of milk and a lower amount of cream. It may use a small amount of egg yolk, or none at all, depending on the recipe.

Generally speaking, gelato is also churned at a slower speed than normal ice cream, which incorporates less air. The result is a denser, thicker and less fluffy ice cream.

As it uses more milk, it is also lower in fat than other types of ice cream. While this has a minimal effect on how healthy it is (it's still full of milk and sugar after all!), it does mean that your chosen flavours come through a bit stronger.

Can ice cream and gelato recipes be adapted for vegans?

Yes! There are many vegan ice cream recipes out there to enjoy.

However you will be better off choosing a recipe which is specifically created with vegan ingredients. This is because the ratio of the different ingredients will change depending on which you use.

For example, you could use coconut milk and cashew cream instead of the dairy versions, but their textures aren’t completely equivalent.

So, choose an ice cream recipe which has been developed with vegans in mind.

How to make vegan ice cream

Now, let’s get into the vegan varieties of ice cream you can make with plant-based ingredients. First up, sorbet!

What is sorbet?

Sorbet is a great option for vegans as it only contains fruit, sugar and water. There’s no need for any dairy products or eggs in the classic recipe.

Compared with ice cream, sorbet is much lighter (thanks to the lack of fat from dairy). However, a good sorbet will still have a creamy texture.

This is down to some chemical wizardry that happens when sugar and water are frozen together. The sugar lowers the freezing point of the water, but eventually the water freezes into small crystals. As water is removed, the sugar syrup becomes more concentrated, lowering the freezing point even further. Meanwhile, churning stops large ice crystals from being formed.

The point of all this is that despite being made mostly of water, sorbet won’t freeze into a solid block of ice. Instead it remains smooth and scoopable.

Be careful not to confuse sorbet with sherbet. While they look similar, most sherbets do contain a small amount of dairy (usually milk). So, if you see them both on a menu, choose sorbet if you’re vegan.

The most famous flavour of sorbet is a classic Italian lemon, which is delicious and refreshing on a hot day.

However, you can make lots of different flavours of sorbet, from fruits such as strawberry and watermelon to chocolate. You can even add in a touch of your favourite tipple, if you like.

How to make sorbet

To make a basic fruit sorbet, start with a fruit purée of your choice. To make a quart of sorbet, you should use about 4-5 cups of fruit purée.

Next, make your sugar syrup by mixing sugar and water together and simmering gently until the sugar is fully dissolved. Start with a cup each.

The tricky part comes next. How much sugar do you need? This will vary depending on the type of fruit you’re using. Naturally sweet fruits like strawberries won’t need much at all, whereas a lemon sorbet would need quite a bit.

Emma Christensen from The Kitchn has a great way of working this out, using an egg.

Simply pop an egg into your sorbet mix and start to add your syrup. Once the egg pops up through the surface of the liquid, you have added enough sugar.

If you don’t buy eggs, but are planning to make sorbet quite often, it may be worthwhile to invest in a refractometer, which measures the sugar content scientifically.

Add a little lemon juice to taste. Some people also like to add in a small amount of alcohol, such as vodka, here as it can help improve the texture.

Chill your mix overnight, and then simply pop your mix into an ice cream maker and churn away.

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