My husband has a crazy sweet tooth, but I generally try to keep sweets and junk food out of the house. But the other day, it was me who was craving ice cream and I just couldn’t get THIS delectable confection out of my head. Luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand, so I dusted off my seldom-used ice cream maker and whipped up a batch of salted caramel icecream. And because I hate doing things halfway, I also made a delicious caramel syrup to go on top, borrowing from a previous recipe HERE.
But enough chit-chat. It’s time to queue the ingredients!
INGREDIENTS
Ice Cream
- (3) 14 oz. cans of coconut milk
- 3/4 cup of unrefined coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 vanilla bean
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup of unrefined coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional, but highly recommended!)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
- Refrigerate coconut milk overnight.
- When you open the cans the next day, the solids and liquids should have separated. Spoon the milk solids into a small mixing bowl.
- Add coconut sugar, salt and the seeds and pulp from 1 vanilla bean.
- Beat until well blended with a hand mixer.
- Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker and let mixture freeze for at least 3 hours.
- For the caramel sauce, bring the coconut sugar, water, salt, and cayenne pepper to a boil in a small saucepan.
- Once the liquid has reduced to a thick syrupy consistency, add the vanilla extract and remove from heat.
- Allow to cool a few minutes and spoon over ice cream before serving.
I still never cease to be amazed by all the different ways you can transform coconut milk (like THIS, for instance). This dessert turned out to be way more delicious than I expected, and I can’t wait to give other types of vegan ice cream a try!
Now for the burning question: how do you pronounce caramel? I used to be a ‘car-mel’ girl back when I lived in Detroit, but now I sound it out into three syllables. No judgment either way, just curious…
