My mom and dad got me a seriously serious ice cream maker for Christmas and have we ever been making ice cream over here...
Best part is, we haven't even used any dairy yet. So far I have tried a few with a coconut milk base and most recently this chocolate "gelato" which uses a cashew cream as the dairy substitute. It.Is.So.Good. If you happen to have an ice cream maker too (like even one of those plastic Donvier ones that has a metal canister that goes in the freezer will work) you have gotta try this insanely decadent "gelato" that I adapted from a recipe on Oh Ladycakes.
1 3/4 cups raw cashews
14 Medjool dates (pitted and soaked in water for about 15-20 min)
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup cacao powder
3/4 cup raw hazelnuts
1 bar of dark chocolate
Soak the cashews for 8 hours or overnight. Once soaked, drain the soaking water and rinse the cashews.
Bake the shelled hazelnuts on a cookie sheet at 350F for 10-20 minutes until the skins are dry and cracking and the smell of awesomeness is radiating from the oven. Let cook and remove the skins by rubbing the hazelnuts together. Chop the hazelnuts into half size pieces and chop the chocolate bar into little chunks.
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'Drain the dates. In a high speed blender add the 3 1/2 cups of fresh water along with the soaked cashews and dates. Blend for about 90 seconds. Refrigerate this mixture for an hour or so. Once chilled, add the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the machines instructions. Once the gelato starts to firm up a bit add in the hazelnuts and chocolate chunks then allow the gelato to finish up.
Place any unfinished gelato in a covered container in your freezer.
My new favorite thing.