Creamy cherry chocolate chunk ice cream (vegan & paleo)

Summer never tasted so good with this dreamy no-churn ice cream.

This no-churn cherry chocolate chunk ice cream is incredible! It’s hard to believe it’s dairy free and made with only guilt-free ingredients! Heaps of fresh sweet cherries and chopped dark chocolate are folded into a naturally sweetened and seriously creamy base made from coconut, cashews, banana and Medjool dates.

So how can an ice-cream this creamy be made without an ice cream maker? The secret here is that cashews and dates don’t freeze rock solid and if you only use coconut cream (and no coconut water) you’ll get a full-fat, ultra-rich, ice-cream without ice.   

Thanks to the Vibe Blender System, all the ingredients blend to a silky texture that matches the smoothest commercial soft-serve. Apart from a bit of fiddly cherry chopping, the foundation of the ice-cream is whipped in seconds. The hardest part is walking away from the freezer and waiting!

Some forward planning will ensure this epic ice-cream treat is ready to indulge in after dinner. Soak the cashews the night before - that way you can get the ice-cream base whizzed up and in the freezer the following morning. For the most luxurious scoopability, 6-8 hours in the freezer is ideal – but even if you freeze cherry chocolate ice-cream overnight, you’ll still wind up with a creamy, scoop-able ice cream after 15 - 30 minutes of thawing.

Either way you’ll luv knowing that you can indulge in a decadent dessert without a tonne of sugar or nasty ingredients. Happy scooping!

WATCH HOW IT'S MADE HERE

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 6 hours or overnight to soften)
1 ½ cups of homemade coconut yogurt or canned coconut milk/cream*
3 Medjool dates - pitted
2 ripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (or more to taste
Pinch of salt
2 cups freshly chopped cherries + extra whole cherries to garnish
80 grams dark chocolate

*If using canned coconut milk or cream, refrigerate the cans overnight so it is easier to scoop out only the creamy coconut pulp from the can. The coconut water is not required. Left over coconut water can be stored airtight in the fridge for 3 days and is great added to smoothies.

Method

1.   Soak the cashews in water with a pinch of salt for 6 hours or overnight to soften.
2.   Rinse and dry the cherries.  Slice the flesh away from the seeds. Then chop half of the cherry pieces into smaller pieces and set aside. Half of the cherries will be blended with the ice cream base ingredients while the other half will be folded through.
3.   Roughly shave or chop the chocolate into small crumbled pieces and set aside.
4.   Drain and rinse the cashews.
5.   Add half of the cherries, the drained cashews, coconut yogurt (or canned coconut milk or cream), bananas, dates, vanilla, salt and maple syrup or honey into the clear Vibe Blender jug.

6.   Secure the lid then blend on ‘smoothie’ mode for 25 seconds.
7.   Stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula, then blend for a further 10 seconds or until creamy smooth.
8.   Taste test. Add more sweetener if you like.
9.   Add the chopped cherries and 3/4 of the chocolate to the blender jug and fold in.  
10.  Pour the mixture into a silicone loaf tin or a suitable freezer friendly container lined with baking paper.

11.  Garnish the top with the remaining chocolate and extra cherries.
12.  For perfect, creamy, scoopable ice cream, freeze for 6-8 hours.
13.  If left overnight, the ice cream will freeze extra firm. In this case, remove the ice cream from the freezer about 15-30 minutes before serving (depending on the weather) and dip your ice cream scoop into hot water to serve.

For more delicious vegan and paleo no-churn, blender frozen desserts, check out this cultured mango and coconut ice-cream, this healthy snickers ice cream, or this Pina colada nice-cream.

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