Black Mission Fig Coconut Ice Cream

Happy Sunday. While fall temperatures are upon us, the wealth of figs at the store got my husband thinking about fig ice cream.  We had fantastic fig gelato when we lived in New York, so last weekend set out to recreate a vegan version.  The first try was amazing, so I am sharing it with you all here.  The coconut flavor is subtle but adds a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the fig.

Black Mission Fig Coconut Ice Cream (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Soy-Free) – Makes 2 cups

With ice creams, I tend to go for easy – namely I avoid gums or stabilizers or cooking the fruit down.  The upside is that all you need is a chilled can of coconut milk, your other ingredients, a blender and an ice cream maker. The downside is that sometimes these ice creams get a bit icy after chilling in the freezer and need to sit out for a few minutes prior to scooping.  As for substitutions for the figs, my understanding is that Black Mission Figs are from California and fairly easy to find this time of year around the U.S., but I am not sure about other countries.  My experience with brown figs is that they tend to not be as sweet, so you may want to adjust your sweetener if you do not use Black Mission Figs. 

• 1 pound fresh Black Mission Fig (about 14-18 figs depending on size)
• 1 14 fl oz can coconut milk, chilled for at least two hours (I used organic full-fat coconut milk from Thai Kitchen)
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup coconut nectar

Remove fig stems and cut in half. Scoop out flesh of fig and discard skin.  You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups fig flesh.  Place in blender with remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.  Pour into your ice cream maker and churn according to directions. I found this batch of ice cream only took 10 minutes in my ice cream maker, but I suspect that may vary depending on your ice cream maker.

Serve topped with lemon zest, cacao nibs or sliced fresh figs. 

I am submitting this recipe to several blog events:

WWellness Weekend, hosted by Ricki of Diet, Desserts and Dogs. The concept behind Wellness Weekends (now a year-round event!) is “any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.).”  Here we have figs, which are a good source of potassium and calcium, as well as coconut, which provides several health benefits.    

A blog event hosted by Flip Cookbook called Sugar Free Sunday, which includes sweet and savory dishes made with non-refined sugars.

Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays

Gluten-Free Wednesday at the Gluten-Free Homemaker

And an blog-hope event I was invited to participate in on the Fave Diets Blog that starts on Thursday.

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