Coconut Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup

In the middle of the night I got a rush of creativity. A sense of, "I got this!" washed over me. I debated for about 2 minutes if it was too late (2am) to get up and turn on the Vitamix. I decided time didn't matter when creativity was present and so proudly entered my dark and quiet kitchen.

I pulled out my two silicone ice trays, one of coconut cream, and the other frozen vanilla coconut milk, and emptied them into my Vitamix. My fingers were frozen and needed defrosting as I plopped my big square of coconut cream and milk mixture into the the blender as well, being careful to break it apart, once again freezing my fingertips. After I defrosted myself, I turned the beast on and started to tamper with the evidence.

I started to hint a burning rubber smell and decided I was overheating my engine with all this iced milk. I took out the vanilla coconut milk and drizzled it in until the substance started churning with the engine. The scientist had begun to make its monster! A friendly, delicious, addictive monster at that. Aren't all monsters friendly in the end? "Simply misunderstood," Mr. Organnix would put it.

This monster was coconut ice cream. After drizzling in the milk, I added guar gum to get it homogenized. After adding in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, the beast had officially finished labor. Why do I always reference babies? I had my new, easy, homemade ice cream! Success! I knew this 2am creative wave wasn't merely a sweet tooth. I didn't even have that much of it when I was done. I just wanted to make it.

After making the ice cream and placing it back in the freezer, I didn't want to drag myself to bed to watch some crappy comedy sitcom. I needed to create more.

I took out my cacao powder and agave nectar and stared them down. "You will be sauce! Chocolate sauce for my espresso and ice cream!" I yelled at them in my head. (I know what you're thinking and yes, I'm crazy. Insane, to be exact.) I heated up a small rice bowl of agave (about 1/2 cup) and beat in the cacao powder until creamy. I bottled it up in my nifty squirt bottle and had the hamster (Mr.Organnix) taste it. His approval went through the roof, over my smile, and into the soon-to-be born Mocha Macchiatos. Another success in less than 30 minutes.

Do you hate paying $5-7 for vegan ice cream? I do. I think it is ridiculous how expensive it is. After making this recipe, I doubt I will return to buying it. So far I've added in melted chocolate chips for fudge, sugar cookies, and even pumpkin bread to this coconut-vanilla base. You can create all the fun ice cream flavors at home, even cookie dough. After making this cheap and easy recipe you won't be going back to that carton either.

Ice Cream Components

What You Need
Prep time: Over night
Assembly time: 20 minutes
Makes: One ziploc container full, seen above

Ice Cream
1/2 cup+one small ice trays Coconut Cream
1 cup+one small ice tray Coconut Milk, vanilla, boxed
Extra Coconut milk for drizzling in vitamix (1-2 cups)
1/2 cup organic powdered sugar, sifted for clumps
2 1/2 tsp Guar Gum

Chocolate Sauce (Not pictured) 
1/2 cup Agave Nectar
Raw Cacao Powder

What You Do
For Ice Cream

• Freeze coconut milk and cream in a shallow ziploc container and ice trays over night. 
• Plop all iced milk into vitamix, drizzling in coconut milk until blending well. *It will not blend without the extra milk because it is all ice!* 
• Use tamper to mix and smash ice cream as needed. Set blender to variable 1 or low.
• Slowly shake powdered sugar into mixture. 
• Very slowly add in guar gum, one teaspoon at a time. *If you don't do it slow enough, the gum will ball up.*
• Blend until creamy! 

For sauce

• The powder amount will vary depending on how chocolate-y you like your sauce. 
• Start by placing 1/2 cup agave into a microwave safe bowl. 
• Heat for 15 seconds, or until warm. Microwaves vary! 
• Slowly incorporate the cacao powder, one tablespoon at a time. 
• Beat with a fork until smooth. 
• Taste as you add each spoon, to be sure how dark you want it.