Egg-Free, Casein-Free Brownie Batter Ice Cream

No t-shirts were harmed in the making of this dessert.

As I sit, writing this blog post, I am eating this amazing ice cream cone. Last week, while I was messing around and figuring out egg-free, Paleo brownies, I had an epiphany about brownie batter and ice cream. You see, I love ice cream made out of cake batter. But my husband, who has had food poisoning twice from undercooked eggs, does not want anything raw and eggy to cross his lips.

It dawned on me that if I could use my egg-free brownie batter to make a mixture for ice cream, it would solve the problem of raw eggs. Plus, it would give an extra recipe for those people out there who can't have eggs. As it turned out, this recipe is much easier to put together than the cashew dark chocolate ice cream I have made before. I don't think the other one is particularly difficult, of course. But when I've tried to explain it to people, they've shut down the minute I say "make a custard." You will see how simple this one is.

First thing is to get the milk ready. Put the two cups of cashew cream and the 2T coconut oil in the blender. Blend the two on high for a couple of minutes. This makes sure that the fat is fully incorporated and doesn't freeze into little pieces. It's not terrible when that happens, but the texture is slightly off-putting.

Once that's done, pour the cashew milk mixture and the ghee into a saucepan. Substitution: Of course you can use EVCO instead of ghee. That would make this recipe truly vegan. Warm over medium heat. Get the rest of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. If you want it to taste more like milk chocolate than a deep, rich chocolate, use less cocoa powder. Then, you will slowly incorporate them into the warm cashew milk and fat mixture.

Whew, the hard part is over. Wasn't that exhausting? All you have to do now is put it into a heat-safe container, cover and stick in the fridge until the temperature of the mixture reaches 40 degrees or less. Easy tip: if you are impatient, like me, you can cool the mixture pretty quickly by whisking it in the bowl while said bowl is floating in a larger bowl of ice water. Just make sure that you don't get water into the mixture, or it will be wasted.

Once it's cool enough, go ahead and put it in the ice cream maker and follow the directions. This makes a little over a quart of ice cream. If you used regular sugar (or even possibly coconut sugar) instead of maple syrup, you may have just made the first dairy-free ice cream that did not cost more to make at home. By my count, I paid about $3.25 to make this at home. That's quite a deal.

Egg-Free, Casein-Free Chocolate Ice Cream

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/8 cup tapioca starch

5/6 cup maple syrup (or 1 cup sugar)

1/3 cup ghee

2 cups cashew cream (1 cup cashews)

2T coconut oil

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave, just enough to warm it. Mix with the cashew cream and blend on high until completely incorporated. Mix first three ingredients together, set aside. Use less cocoa powder to make it more of a milk chocolate flavor than a dark chocolate flavor. In a saucepan, melt ghee (or more coconut oil) with the cashew cream/coconut oil mix. Once they get warm (not very hot), start whisking in the dry ingredients. Once they are completely incorporated and smooth, remove from heat. Transfer to a fridge-safe container. Cover and cool until mixture reaches 40 degrees. Prepare according to ice cream maker directions. Makes about 1.25 quarts.