Delicious Local Strawberries Make Awesome Ice Cream!

There’s a great little community farmer’s market that takes place a short 5 minute walk from my apartment. I kept trying to go to it last year, but never was able to, either due to scheduling or due to, well, forgetting.

This year I’ve been able to go several times so far, which has been really lovely for summer cooking inspiration. So I knew if I just wandered down there last Wednesday afternoon, I’d find exactly what I needed to make something for Sugar High Friday.

I passed a booth with local peaches and plums, but while they sounded good, that wasn’t really what I was in the mood for. I took a few minutes to go get some heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers, and then turned my attention to the berries on display. Having not yet had lovely local strawberries yet this year, I added a container to my day’s haul.

This past weekend was unusually warm. It seems summer has hit rather late for most of us in Ontario this year! So I felt like making ice cream out of those awesome strawberries, the kind that tastes like real fruit and not like, well, chemicals. But of course, I can’t have milk or cream right now, so I had to look for a good recipe for vegan strawberry ice cream. Fortunately, Vegan Ice Cream Paradise had exactly what I was looking for! This recipe makes a really good tasting, non-dairy ice cream. You do need to use full fat versions of your soy/rice/almond/coconut milk, otherwise the ice cream will free rock hard once put into the freezer. If that does happen to you, I find either leaving the ice cream on your counter for 15-30 minutes will soften it enough to scoop, or, you can nuke it in your microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Awesome Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

If you don’t like soymilk, you can substitute other types of non-dairy milk such as rice, almond, or even coconut. Your total ‘milk’ volume must be 3 cups. Just remember to use full fat versions of whatever you choose for the best tasting results.

1½ – 2 c. strawberries (fresh please! Frozen will work, but do defrost them first.)
2 c. soy creamer
1 c. soymilk
¾ c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 T. vanilla

Mix ¼ cup of your milk of choice with the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and set aside.

Slice your strawberries. Measure out 1 cup and set those aside for later.

Combine the remaining strawberries, soy creamer (if using), remaining milk of choice, and sugar together in a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture just barely comes up to a boil, remove it from the heat and add in the cornstarch mixture. As you stir, the mixture should thicken a little bit; you’ll find it thickens even more as it cools.

Add the vanilla, then place the ice cream mixture into your refrigerator to cool for at least a few hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add in the left over strawberries in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

This recipe makes a soft-serve consistency ice cream. To harden it further, store in freezer.