VEGAN BLACKBERRY COCONUT ICE CREAM–Guest Post By Carol Wasserman

Earlier this week, I got together with my good friend, celebrity yoga instructor, Kristin McGee, to make this ice cream. It came to me in the dream. No kidding! I was licking a cone of Blackberry Soft Serve, and it was sooooooo good. I woke up with an intense craving for Blackberry Ice Cream. I wanted to feed myself something nourishing though, so I came up with this version that uses coconut milk and maple syrup. The entire recipe in fact has only 4 ingredients and they are all good for you! Blackberries, maple syrup, coconut milk, vanilla.

I called Kristin, and she thought her 2 year old son, Timothy, would be into it – so we made a plan!

And Kristin was right – Timothy LOVED the ice cream! We didn’t tell him it was vegan and sugar-free….. shhhhhh.

First, you make the base by whisking together coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Chill this. This alone would make a delicious vanilla coconut ice cream. To get the blackberry flavor, I blended frozen organic blackberries with a drop of maple syrup. Then I strained out the seeds. The resulting puree I mixed with my coconut base. Done! The ice cream maker does the rest of the work.

The day we made this it was almost 60 degrees here in NYC – in December! We have had a very mild winter so far, hence my ice cream dreams?

While the ice cream maker was churning, and Timothy was licking a spoon of the unfrozen ice cream batter, Kristin and I did a little Pilates with her bands. I actually use her videos on my own at home – they are my favorite! – so it was really fun for me to have her there in person practicing with me. Timothy even got into the action for a bit. He has a wonderful personality that I think really shines through in these photos.

VEGAN BLACKBERRY COCONUT ICE CREAM

Makes about 2 pints ice cream

INGREDIENTS

• One, 10 oz package frozen blackberries, defrosted (or use fresh)
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup maple syrup, room temperature, or warmed.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the blackberry puree by blending the blackberries and 1 Tablespoon maple syrup in a blender on high, until smooth.
2. Push puree through a fine mesh strainer. You do this by placing the strainer over a large bowl. Add the puree to the strainer, and use a spoon to push the puree through. It will take about 5 full minutes of constant stirring, pushing, and scraping, to get the puree through. You will be left with the seeds in the strainer. Discard them.
3. To the bowl with the blackberry puree, add the coconut milk, vanilla, and maple syrup. Whisk to combine.
4. Refrigerate until cold. Then process in your ice cream maker.
5. Serve immediately. Or freeze, and then let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.

Carol Wasserman is a holistic nutritionist in NYC who loves to cook. She is gluten free and although she eats meat and dairy on occasion, most of the things she cooks are vegan. Carol’s philosophy is “Eating well makes me feel wonderful. This is how my passion grew for healthy foods and cooking.” Check out more of Carol’s amazing recipes on her blog: glutenfreebabe.com.