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Freezing Raw Ice Cream

Ok, I made some delicious raw ice cream out of young coconu meat and almonds, but when I froze the leftovers, it just came out icy and hard. Any suggestions? Any help is appreciated. :)

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  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Suggestion… chunk up the leftovers and put them in a blender and whiz away to make it creamy again. You might need to add a little liquid or something like banana to make it creamy. Or, use the leftovers for the base of a smoothie. Enjoy.

  • Bluedolfin- Thanks! Have you ever frozen your ice cream before? I was wondering if it was possible to make a raw ice cream that had the consistency of real dairy ice cream, or if that is impossible. Thanks again! :)

  • I don’t know if this helps at all (because I don’t know what recipe you used) but I use cashews when I make raw ice cream. They seem to help with it staying softer. I also noticed that if I use extracts other then vanilla that helps too – peppermint recently became one of my favorites.

  • Thanks layladebloody! One time I made this delicous, yet wacky ice cream out of soaked cashews and coconut meat, with frozen strawberries and peppermint extract, which was great. I think I’ll go back to making that again. Maybe adding liquids will be like freezing water when you freeze ice cream.. that may be why it gets icy. That really helps! :)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    wclaire~ I think part of the creaminess comes from the “churning” (adding air) of the ice cream. When you let it set, it has a chance to separate and also to create the harden structure that makes it popcycly (is that a word?). I think that is why the fresh stuff is creamier. Maybe putting the leftovers in an ice cube tray will make it easier to use. Also the fat content of dairy ice cream makes it creamy. I’m an expert at eating ice cream and not of making it. I don’t tend to have leftover ice cream. ;)

  • Well the main problem with ice creams all natures in their basic form is the water isnt bound up and used. Now a standard ice cream you will have many small ice crystals made from the freezing process. The more and smaller crystals you have the smoother the texture of the frozen product will be in the end. The one small problem comes when you don’t make enough crystals small enough you get ice milk for lack of a better term. If you don’t have anything to get in between the crystals like fats and sugars, the liquids can still freeze into a block no matter how small the crystals. So a good premium ice cream is normally a custard style. The proteins in the eggs would normally wrap around and bind the liquid making the substance thicker. Now if you can incorporate something to bind and thicken and make use of the excess liquid in product the better your product will freeze. Sure cashews and coconut meat help give it body but they don’t bind. So people work on it. I want ice cream that doesnt become a block o ice. And truely smooth creamy ice cream isn’t really achieveble without an ice cream machine or constand tending. You must constantly freeze and break up the ice crystals formed into smaller ones. So if you go that route either fork like a granita, or use your hand mixer and blend every so often to break aerate smooth out the ice cream. Now I have mostly emptied my mind on the subject but I don’t reveal all my magical tricks kiddies :).

  • Has anybody tried freezing raw cashew-based ice cream?

  • Wow. That is probably the best thing as far as food is concerned any has ever said about me. Thanks princesSITA. I do love his show and like knowing how things work. If we know that we can do great things :).

  • Well I did freeze cashew based ice cream once in my ice cream maker. I think I didnt have enough fats to make it as creamy as I like, but it was ok for a basic ice cream tho. Just wouldnt put it in a really cold freezer or we are talking big ice block made of little ices :).

  • I wonder how the staff at Pure Food and Wine freeze their raw ice cream without toatally making a block of ice. You figure they store alot of it because they have a restaurant!

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    We make cashew-based ice creams and it is creamy. We use an ice cream maker, but once frozen afterwards it does becomes rock hard. Here are some tips…

    HOW TO FREEZE:
    I freeze it by putting it into a freezer conainter with wax paper on top. This prevents a lot of crystals from forming on top of the ice cream. IF we freeze without that wax paper on top, it will form crystals while frozen. I make sure the wax paper is touching the top of the ice cream every time we put it back in the freezer.

    HOW TO THAW ONCE FROZEN:
    When you are ready to eat it, let it sit out on the counter for about 5-10 minutes then scoop it out into your bowl. It needs to warm up a little in order to scoop out nicely.

    TRICK, PRE-SCOOP THEN FREEZE:
    Another trick is to pre-scoop your ice cream into nice ball shapes and then freeze it that way. Then when you want ice cream, you put the ball shapes into your bowl and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to become softer again.

    A raw food restaurant I visited uses a soft serve ice cream machine that continues to churn the ice cream to keep it creamy.

  • Omg rawmama, thanks! where is tthis raw food restaurant you speak of?
    Oh, and by the way, where do you buy wax paper? dumb question, I know, but I really like your suggestions! This website has such nice people! I’m so glad I joined.

  • You could also use plastic wrap just make a double layer and press firmly on top. The paper on top helps prevent any excess air from melting the top layer which refreezes and makes those lovely ice crystals. I would assume they have a special blend to their recipes at the resturaunt and temp controlled freezers which keep the ice cream from getting too cold. A normal household fridge isnt that cold. So i’ve never had that problem at home. Of course a soft serve ice cream machine would make for a fun experiment :).

  • Thanks Chris!

  • Always welcome to help a person because it helps me. Karma such a lovely funny thing.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Hi rawclaire,
    Glad to help, this site is full of great people and suggestions and this is a really fun topic! You can buy wax paper in the grocery store, where they sell plastic wrap/parchment paper and aluminum foil. I think there is untreated wax paper in health food stores or at least un-treated parchment paper. I just use regular wax paper from the grocery store. From what I remember, years ago, the higher-end ice cream came with a wax paper type covering over the ice cream in the half gallon containers? The restaurant we had gone to was loving life cafe in New Oxford, PA (closed now due to moving to Hanover in the Sprint)...their ice cream was soooooooooo smooth and creamy and they said it was made with cashews :) It was a commercial soft serve machine I am assuming, but don’t know for sure, did not notice the name on it. I think that the ice cream just remains in that machine and continues to churn??? Dunno though…

    I have been trying to avoid plastic wrap all together because I was told that “some” are made with the #7 plastic which is toxic, but do not know which, so avoid them all as much as possible. Do you know which ones are safe Chris? Thanks for your help…

  • I don’t know the answer to that question. I didn’t take the toxicity into thought. But then again what won’t kill us. I heard good things about the loving life cafe. Being a PA person, I may have to try it out in the spring. I also hear there is one in harrisburg but I dunno. Well keep up the good work :).

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Yes! Luna Pastel in Harrisburg is delicious, great food, and Loving Life Cafe is definitely worth it…their desserts are heavenly, can’t wait til they open up again :)

  • Well I may have to try the harrisburg one as well. May also need to Make some fun dessert recipes as well. Transitioning people need that sweet love with a healthy twist. I’ll just have to start a new thread for some ideas :). Keep smiling and as harley quinn said, “have a happy :)

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Oh yes… Luna Pastel; they’re selling their business. I prefer the deserts from Loving Life Cafe now in York, PA. I’ve only liked some of the dessert from Luna Pastel.

    I haven’t read the others posts… but, Freeze Pies! I’ve made the mango cheesecake from cheflandria with cashews, lecithin, and agar, and it didn’t turn into a brick. Also the date nut tort and the million dollar brownie didn’t turn into a brick. These two have plenty of coconut and dates which is probably why it froze well.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Loving Life Cafe is now in York? Where? I thought their website said they were closed. They used to be off of the square in New Oxford. Their desserts ARE the best! Yummmmmm. Luna has been for sale for a long time.

    I’ll think up some desserts…

  • Bright side is, york is more of a straight shot for people since it’s right off of the highway :). So people coming from MD and already in PA have a better chance of finding it.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    www.lovinglifecafe.com
    Says that they are closed until new store opens up in Spring 2008. If it is in York, would love to know where :)

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Actually, when I was at Loving Life cafe… I thought they said they were moving to York and keeping the one in New Oxford in open. But, if you look at their website, it says they are moving to Hanover…. and closing the one in New Oxford. I guess we just wait and see. Maybe she meant the one in New Oxford is open for classes and lectures.

  • SystemSystem Raw Newbie

    I find that the coconut added to the ice cream makes it more creamy and prevents it from turning to ice. You can make ice cream out of cashews(or preferred nut/seed), coconut oil (or young coconut meat or coconut milk made from old coconuts- i’ve tried old coconut ice cream the most), raw agave, pinch salt and flavorings.

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Ah yes yuna, I would agree about the coconut.

  • yeah, I agree about the coconut :)

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