vegan coconut mocha ice cream. pure bliss.

Are you in need of a chocolate fix? I was, the other night. I cursed my empty cupboards. I cursed the absence of a secret chocolate stash. I cursed and I sulked and I craved and I yearned... and then I remembered I had this glorious tub of vegan coconut mocha ice cream sweetly tucked away in the freezer.

How could I have forgotten? But I remember now. I remember licking that sensational batter off the spoon. I remember swiping my fingers all round the insides of the saucepan and the blender, savouring every last glossy, clinging remnant. I remember hoping that the wonderful batter would turn into an even more wonderful ice cream. And now, here it is. Here it is, perfectly frozen, perfectly ready to satisfy me... perfectly delicious.

a half-eaten tub of fabulous homemade vegan coconut mocha ice cream.

Don't be alarmed by the inclusion of avocado in the recipe. You won't even taste it, but it's there alright, weaving a lush buttery magic through the concoction. Then there's the sultriness of the thick, full-fat coconut cream, and the sexy integrity of a good quality organic cocoa powder - even in its frozen state, I get a strong whiff of chocolate whenever I open up this tub of ice cream. Absolute decadence. I never thought I'd say this about a vegan recipe, but this is rich, rich goodness, and not for the faint of heart.

This makes only a very small portion of ice cream, so feel free to multiply the quantities for a bigger batch.

vegan coconut mocha ice cream

1/2 cup coconut cream
1/3 cup coarse raw sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 small ripe avocado (approx. 150g / 1/3 lb)

Warm up coconut cream over low heat and add raw sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, instant coffee granules, water and salt. Stir till all dissolved. Turn off the heat.

Peel avocado and extract the flesh.

Blend mocha coconut mix together with avocado flesh until completely smooth.

Freeze in a container. Take the container out of the freezer to give the mixture a good 30 second whisk every half an hour for the next two hours, then allow it to rest serenely in the freezer until sufficiently frozen for consumption.

*As coffee doesn't always sit well with me, I opted for a more chocolatey mocha with a high ratio of cocoa powder. If you would like the coffee flavour to shine through, feel free to adjust to your taste. If you would like a more mildly sweet ice cream, sugar used can be reduced to 1/4 cup, though the texture of the resulting ice cream might turn out harder.

vegan coconut mocha ice cream: the pretentious version.

In other news, I figured this was as good a time as any for a first attempt at creating ice cream quenelles. Okay, so my quenelle isn't particularly handsome, but at least it's not completely horrendous. Or is it? ... I hurriedly dressed it up with a macadamia nut and a strawberry slice to give it a little more character. I think I just needed some kind of crumble to complete the picture, but this was all I had, and the ice cream was starting to melt, and I was getting tired, and...

Seriously, though, when I'm not trying to take fancy photos for my blog and all that jazz, I just dig in with a spoon. Sometimes - and this is not just my indolent nature speaking - it's the simple things I enjoy most, and eating ice cream straight out of the tub while curled up in bed on a cool breezy night? Bliss at its best.