Thursday 3 July 2014

Vegan & Grain Free Coconut Ice Cream by Aimee Ryan


Everyone who loves ice cream should consider acquiring a copy of this book! No bookshelf should be without it! It's packed full of enticing recipes to suit both kids and adults from everyday treats to refined dinner party desserts and you'll be glad to know that most of the recipes are quite simple to prepare. Even though some are a little more fiddly and require a little patience, the end result will be worth it.

Vegan & Grain-free Coconut Milk Ice Creamis written by Aimée Ryan, the author of the very popular cooking and crafts blog, Wallflower Girl. Luckily, I wandered onto the blog not so very long ago, I think it was after I caught sight of a link to her beautiful tangy recipe for vegan lemon curd (which is also in the book).



One of the most outstanding features of this simple to navigate book is how easy it is to read. Containing over 80 varied and imaginative recipes for ice-creams, desserts, milkshakes, popsicles, sauces, cones and toppings (all grain free and all vegan), many of these recipes can also be easily converted for people following The Specific Carbohydrate Diet.



Everything you need to know about making coconut milk ice cream is described clearly in the book including how to easily make your own coconut milk. Aimée has thought of everything! But the range and creative variety of flavours make it so difficult to even begin to choose what to make!


The Red Velvet Beetroot Cake and Chocolate Hazelnut Ice-Cream recipes are two I will definitely try out soon. When I asked my husband to give me a hand to choose which one I should make first, he suggested the Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake.



Doesn't it look fantastic! But unfortunately I didn't have enough coconut milk in the cupboard. I order my Coconut Milk on-line since I like to buy a version without additives but but once I've received my next order, I'll be all set to make it for the family birthday gathering later this month. Flicking through the book, I discovered one of my all time favourite flavours and decided to make that first instead - the Mocha Ice Cream recipe.



... and we weren't disappointed. It was everything you would expect and more - silky smooth, chocolatey with a subtle coffee flavour, yum!



It was dead easy to choose the next recipe from the book - just look at this tower of chocolate brownie ice creams -  I just had to make them! So the following weekend I made the vanilla ice cream...



and then I made the brownies - oh and if you're looking for a reliable grain free brownie recipe you need to look no further...



However, I chose the warmest day of the Summer this year to assemble the brownies and experienced a massive photography crisis due to the fast melting ice cream I'd sandwiched between the baked brownie slices. But please don't let that put you off making them because once they had spent the night in the freezer we munched on these decadent treats in blissful silence the following day!