Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
This Chocolate Ice Cream is perfect for summer’s end, which usually corresponds with the upcoming Labor Day holiday (stay tuned for a Healthy Labor Day Recipe Roundup post later this week!); the added spices warm up this vegan gluten free dessert for chilly Fall nights approaching.
My recipe is based on one from Elise of Simply Recipes –she has a great traditional Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream recipe that uses cream and eggs, which you might like to take a look at.
Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
- 2 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
, unsweetened
- ¼ cup agave nectar
- 1 cup chocolate drops
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
- pinch celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (if you don’t want a super spicy ice cream, then just use a pinch)
- 1 teaspoon decaf espresso, ground
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk and agave to a boil
- Reduce immediately to a simmer, then remove from heat
- Mix in the chocolate, stirring constantly until chips are completely melted
- Cool mixture in pan on counter for 1 hour
- Stir in the cinnamon, salt, cayenne, espresso and vanilla until thoroughly combined
- Add mixture to your ice cream maker
, following directions per your machine
- Serve
A lot of people often ask me what kind of ice cream maker I use for my recipes. I received this question from Rebecca W on my Cherry Strawberry Ice Cream post:
I have been looking through your Amazon store to see what kind of ice cream maker you recommend but I can’t find one. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
The ice cream maker I use seems to have been discontinued, so I cannot really recommend it. So, my question to everyone is what’s your favorite ice cream maker? If you could link to the product online that would be great! Thanks everyone!
You might also enjoy:
That photo has me looking for a spoon.
I don’t have an ice cream maker, but I think I’ll try making this recipe without it and see what happens.
Looking forward to your Healthy Labor Day Recipe Roundup.
I love my ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid. You can find it here
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KICA0WH-Cream-Maker-Attachment/dp/B0002IES80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1283359787&sr=8-1
YUM! Cannot wait to try this recipe. Here’s a link to the ice cream freezer I use. I purchased mine at Sam’s Club in the Spring.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-25-Classic-Frozen-Yogurt/dp/B0009VELUK/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1283361181&sr=1-15
I use Cuisinart’s ice cream maker, which I bought last year after a bit of research into various options. I love it. I’ve used it a ton and have been very pleased. Delicious sounding recipe!
I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and love it! I’ve been using it all summer to make sorbet from fresh fruit!
I just got an ice cream maker, and this is the first ice cream that will be made in it! YUM!! Thanks!
Hi! Could you tell us how good was it, please?
I still don’t have an ice cream maker, yet I can make some pretty nice ice cream without one. I have just discovered canned coconut milk after months of making my own, and the texture of can is just much better–especially for making ice cream! Are there any brands that are BPA free? I will have to do my research.
Native Forest Organic coconut milk is BPA free.
What does that mean?
Tin/steel cans used for food and some aluminum beverage cans are lined with an epoxy resin that contains Bisphenol A (BPA). This lining’s purpose is to prevent corrosion and contamination of the food, but the BPA leeches onto our food/beverage thus becoming dangerous.
This ice cream looks amazing! I just love coconut milk. :)
By the way, is there any chance for the development of a gingerbread cake recipe? Now that fall is approaching I am starting to have a craving for it–it is a favorite at my house.
Thanks Elana!
My favorite ice cream maker is the Vitamix… ok so its not really an ice cream maker. :) But since I don’t have one, I just freeze the mix in popsicle molds without the stick, then pop the cubes into the Vitamix and blend to yummy soft serve ice cream! Works for me, and I don’t have to have yet another kitchen gadget. :)
hi Elana,
thank you for a fantastic recipe. Just have to buy the ice-cream maker now :o)
My daughter and I have recently been given a looong list of food to avoid (intolerances) and I’ve been looking online for some recipes.
Found your blog which is priceless. Waiting for the kids to start school again (next week) and get back to a routine to start experimenting ;)
Thanks again for the time you spend sharing all this.
Isa
PS: not a Agave hater here, we love it!! ;)
Instead of an ice cream maker, you can use a metal bowl. Sounds like a delicious recipe!
Could you elaborate on this? Not only do I not have an ice cream maker, but I don’t even have a metal bowl! I sold everything and moved back to the US a couple weeks ago. Given how much I need to repurchase, the chances of buying a metal bowl soon are MUCH better than buying an ice cream maker!! LOL!
Do you need to reblend after freezing it?
Yes, first freeze the metal bowl for about an hour. Then place it in a large pot or very large bowl with ice. Put the frozen metal bowl on top of the ice, just so that the mixture is cold as you stir it together. You’ll do this between steps 3 and 4 in Elana’s recipe. Cover with foil and freeze.
You can also do the plastic bag method, as suggested below. It works!
No, you don’t need to re-blend. Let it soften a bit before serving.
I bought a Deni from QVC a few years ago and I just love it. One puts the freezer container in the freezer for at least 8 hours before making the fixings, then puts them into the chilled container and onto the IC maker and turns it on. IC in just a few minutes. Hope this is helpful. I have seen a few non-chill machines, but have not tried them.
I love love Mexican Hot Chocolate so I’m sure I would love this ice cream. I’m not eating chocolate right now but hopefully sometime in the future I’ll give it a try.
As for an ice cream maker, I have only used this one:
http://www.cuisinart.com/products/ice_cream/ice-21.html
So I can’t really say if it’s my favorite but it does the job and I don’t have any complaints!
thanks for the inspiration!
Mexican ice cream is one of my favorites…I love cinnamon and chocolate.
Ice cream makers – just so you know I’ve done the research. Ice cream is one of my favorite things to make. In fact, I make at least two batches a week for my husband. I set out to find the best one and in the end, it’s the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer. I know it doesn’t help much if you don’t have a KitchenAid but I’ve bought many others to compare and always take them back.
The dasher in the KitchenAid is wonderful for incorporating air and giving your ice cream a lighter, more store-bought like texture. If you love to make ice cream, I’d even suggest buying a KitchenAid mixer.
Sounds so yummy! Do you think it would be possible to use cocoa powder instead of chips? Love your site ;)
Elana, I will definitely make this. Husband doesn’t do dairy, but would do anything for ice cream! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
~Karen
I have a Cuisinart-very happy with it!
Gosh this sounds devine. I can’t wait until I have my own ice-cream maker! I’m going to try the recipe with stevia instead of agave syrup :).
I would like to make this with Stevia drops. Any insight into how I might do that to substitute for the agave?
If you don’t have an ice cream maker try making it with ice cream in a bag recipe. Place mixture in sandwich ziplock and then put that inside a gallong ziplock with ice and ice cream salt and shake until it become ice cream about 10-20 minutes. My kids love doing this in the summer.
Really, does that work? I’ll have to try that. Thanks
I LOVE chocolate & cinnamon in ice-cream! I can’t wait to try this Elana! The picture is absolutely beautiful!
THIS WAS AMAZING!!! The BEST chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had! I omitted the cayenne, since I don’t like spicy with chocolate, but it was still just as delicious! Thank you Elana for this yummy recipe!
These ice cream scoops look delicious! I love their shape :)
Just curious how you get your coconut milk based ice creams to look so soft and creamy? I literally have to take a knife to mine and serve it like shaved ice!
I love seeing the vegan recipes.
I use this Cuisinart, Duo machine:
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-40-Flavor-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice/dp/B00006WNMR/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1283468928&sr=8-4
My best friend gave it to me for my birthday and I love it! It’s nice to be able to make two flavors at the same time or a double batch of a favorite flavor of ice cream. It works wonderfully.
Does the recipe call for 2 14oz cans of coconut milk? or 14oz total? I ran into this problem with another recipe too. The cans I buy ARE 14oz. Help! This looks sooo good! I want to try it asap!
Thanks
Brianna – I’m guessing she means 2 cans, 14 oz each (total = 28 oz).
Elena – the recipe doesn’t say how much this makes, unless I missed it. Do you know how many quarts it yields, approximately? This is very similar to the vegan chocolate ice cream recipe I make, and based on that, I would guess yours makes about 2 quarts, but I’d love to know for sure. Thanks! :)
I use the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. It works great.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001540DW/ref=s9_ri_bw_fi2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-9&pf_rd_r=0Q66TAXGK17WECF7WNNX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1250490422&pf_rd_i=291362
I have this one also and it works great. The only thing I don’t like about it is that its very noisy.
Elana,
I made this ice cream yesterday and it was fantastic. The suggested amount of cayenne pepper is just enough to be present, but not so much that it overpowers the ice cream. The ice cream has so many layers of flavor and deliciousness. My family was very impressed.
This is making me drool openly. I am making this ASAP because I know that I’ll be dreaming of this ice cream tonight. Thank you soo much for sharing this.
Love this vegan ice cream. I love coconut milk for ice cream – it’s so luscious! Mexican chocolate is so decadent – great recipe.
I use the ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen-Aid…love it, love it, love it! Super easy and since I keep the bowl in the freezer it’s always ready to go!
My family and I made this last weekend and it was delicious. We used maple syrup rather than agave and it worked beautifully. Thanks so much!
Is the decaf espresso instant or is it the actual grounds? This sounds great.
Hi! I made this and it’s so delicious! I used the full amount of cayenne which gives it a spicy kick. I used honey instead of agave and regular not decaf espresso.
Question – where is the green bowl from? It’s so cute!
Thanks so much for this recipe!
Your ice cream looks so soft. How does it get this way?
When I make mine out of coconut milk is is hard as a rock….
Thanks!
I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and it works great, however I don’t even use it anymore now that I have my Vitamix…..it works for EVERYTHING!
I am wondering why this recipe doesn’t call for eggs. I made the coconut milk chocolate chip recipe that called for eggs and it turned out great. This recipe tasted great but it did not work well in my ice cream maker (Cuisinart). It didn’t “ice up” around the sides. It was the delicious just not like ice cream. Wondering if any one else had the same problem?