Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

First post in over 1 1/2 years! I'm on a roll. 

So the other day my kids were complaining that we didn't have any ice cream. Most of the time we don't have ice cream in the house, but it's been really hot the last few weeks and they want (need?) ice cream. So I got out my ice cream maker for the first time in a very long time, and threw together some ice cream. I made this up as I went along and it turned out really yummy. More of a dark chocolate and was very creamy and smooth. Super simple and quick too.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream (cold)
3/4 cup regular coconut milk (not lite - cold)
3/4 cup organic whole cane sugar (I use Rapadura brand)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. You could use a food processor as well. Pour into your ice cream maker and process until it's a soft-serve consistency. Mine took 20 minutes. Put the ice cream into a freezer-proof container and chill in the freezer for two hours to firm up. 

Enjoy!

Sucanat Ice Cream

Sucanat is a brown sugar from freshly squeezed sugar cane juice that is dehydrated. It retains it's minerals unlike refined white and brown sugars. It is light brown in color and has a light molasses flavor. You can buy it at health food stores as well as online. I thought it would be interesting to see what it would taste like as a white sugar substitute. The Sucanat gives this a light brown color and a slight molasses flavor that I really like.

Sucanat Ice Cream

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup half & half
1 cup organic Sucanat
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 pinch fine grain sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Blend using an immersion blender (you can also do this in the blender).
3. Pour into a container and put in the refrigerator to chill completely. This also gives the Sucanat time to completely dissolve into the mixture.
4. Process in your ice cream maker until it's a firm soft-serve consistency. It took about 35 minutes in my machine.
5. Put into a freezer safe container and freeze for several hours until firm.