Ice Cream

• 1 can coconut milk (I prefer Native Forest or Thai Kitchen Organic Canned Coconut Milk. Native Forest is my top pick, as it contains little to no BPA in the can lining).
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh, or you can use thawedblueberries from the freezer)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg yolk, raw (optional)

Other possibilities: 

• Substitute honey for maple syrup (see below)
• Use a different fruit (cherry, peach, strawberry, etc.)
• No egg yolk. It adds an extra creaminess and improves the texture, but the recipe turns out just fine without it if using raw eggs isn’t your thing.

Step 1: Toss everything into a blender and mix it up. You can choose whether to blend the fruit completely smooth, or to leave some chunks in it if you like your ice cream better that way.

Step 2: Pour it into your prepared ice cream maker. Make sure that you turn the machine on so that the blade starts churning before you pour the ice cream mix in.

We use a cheap Deni automatic ice cream maker (ours is a slightly older version than this one) that we bought at a garage sale. It works well, so long as I freeze the canister for a minimum of 18-24 hours before using it. The manuals often tell you that 12 hours is sufficient, but in my experience, it isn’t. Just keep your clean canister in the freezer all summer long, so that it’s ready whenever that ice cream urge arises.

Step 3: Let it churn away for 25-30 minutes. The only hard part about this step is the waiting… we’ve been known to have several little people sitting up on the counter, crowding around the machine to watch it solidify. What’s that saying about a watched ice cream canister never freezes?

The finished product. Once it starts to look thoroughly icy and comes up onto the sides a bit, it’s probably ready. Get out a spoon and test it yourself. Several times. Quality control is important, right?

Step 4: Consume and enjoy.