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THE LIKE-A-PRO ICE CREAM

Coconut Bliss Ice Cream
• with xanthan gum •

With extra virgin coconut oil, milk, cream, sugar, and xanthan gum.

Our Coconut Bliss ice cream lives up to its name with its deliciously rich and creamy coconut flavor. Made with extra virgin coconut oil, the most coconut-y ingredient available at the stores, this ice cream will transport you to a tropical paradise. Using natural coconut ingredients, you can now indulge in the ice cream of your dreams. Get ready to go coco-nuts for our purely blissful coconut ice cream!

Xanthan gum makes for ice cream with a perfect, full-bodied mouthfeel, which churns beautifully, melts uniformly during serving, and keeps well in the freezer.

3 more ways to make this coffee ice cream:

Philadelphia - style

THE EASY! Crowd-pleasing and easy to make. Eat now, thank us later. With coffee beans, milk, cream, and sugar.

with corn starch

THE ITALIAN WAY. This is your hot weather ice cream: easy to make and resistant to melting. It is also the lightest in heavy cream. With coffee beans, milk, cream, sugar, and corn starch.

with egg yolks
(custard)

THE FRENCH-STYLE ICE CREAM. Rich and velvety, this is a custard-based ice cream; a tad bit tricky to make, but so much worth it. Our winter favourite for its cosy mouthfeel. With coffee beans, milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks.

Philadephia - style

THE EASY! Crowd-pleasing and easy to make. Eat now, thank us later. With coffee beans, milk, cream, and sugar.

with corn starch

THE ITALIAN WAY. This is your hot weather ice cream: easy to make and resistant to melting. It is also the lightest in heavy cream. With coffee beans, milk, cream, sugar, and corn starch.

with egg yolks
(custard)

THE FRENCH-STYLE ICE CREAM. Rich and velvety, this is a custard-based ice cream; a tad bit tricky to make, but so much worth it. Our winter favourite for its cosy mouthfeel. With coffee beans, milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks.

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The ingredients

Do not reduce or replace anything; everything is there for a reason.

• Coffee beans: the taste of the ice cream will be as good as the coffee beans you use. So pick your favourite coffee beans, or choose your coffee beans judging by the smell; they should smell divine. We tested the recipe with the easy-to-find Illy brand coffee beans (Classic Roast, 100% Arabica), and we absolutely loved it.

• Milk: use whole milk; this has approx. 3,5% fat. Do not substitute with skimmed milk (lower fat) or non-dairy milk. You need both the fat and the milk proteins for this ice cream recipe.

• Sugar: use regular sugar (white granulated sugar), or a good quality raw cane suar, such as Demerara or Turbinado, which enhances the coffee flavours.

Do not use any other sugar or sweetener, natural or artificial, liquid or powder, like honey, stevia, golden syrup, table sweeteners, confectioner’s sugar, etc.

• Heavy cream (for double cream read below): for this recipe you can use heavy cream with 35% to 40% fat content. It is ok to use cream suitable for whipping or ultra-pasteurised cream with 35-40% fat content. Do not use low-fat cream or non-dairy cream.

• Xanthan gum can be found in speciality shops, health food stores and online. Read more about it here.

The ingredients for the recipe shown from left to right: xanthan gum, milk, heavy cream, sugar, and coffee beans.

• Coffee beans: the taste of the ice cream will be as good as the coffee beans you use. So pick your favourite coffee beans, or choose your coffee beans judging by the smell; they should smell divine. We tested the recipe with the easy-to-find Illy brand coffee beans (Classic Roast, 100% Arabica), and we absolutely loved it.

• Sugar: use regular sugar (white granulated sugar), or a good quality raw cane suar, such as Demerara or Turbinado, which enhances the coffee flavours.

Do not use any other sugar or sweetener, natural or artificial, liquid or powder, like honey, stevia, golden syrup, table sweeteners, confectioner’s sugar, etc.

• Xanthan gum can be found in speciality shops, health food stores and online. Read more about it here.

• Milk: use whole milk, with around 3,5% fat. Do not substitute with skimmed milk (lower fat) or non-dairy milk. You need both the fat and the milk proteins for this ice cream recipe.

• Heavy cream (for double cream see scroll to the right): for this recipe you can use heavy cream with 35% – 40% fat. It is ok to use cream suitable for whipping or ultra-pasteurised cream with 35-40% fat content.

Do not use low-fat cream or non-dairy cream.

Overview

This is a quick overview of the recipe. If you are new to ice cream making, do read the recipe before proceeding. 

Bring 1/2 of the milk, all the coconut oil, and the sugar
to a full boil.

Pour the boiling milk into a blender jug with the rest of the  cold milk.

With the blender on, sprinkle the xanthan gum.

Blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate it.

Cool down over and ice bath and put in the refrigerator overnight or until completely cold.

Strain and churn in your ice cream maker until creamy and wavy.

Put it in the freezer for a few hours to set. 

As soon as it sets, you can either serve it from the ice cream maker bowl or transfer to a container and store it in the freezer.

Watch us making it
Image to Youtube link with video recipe.
The recipe

Coconut Bliss Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

Print recipe

Coconut Bliss Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

Print recipe
  • Special equipment: ice cream maker
  • yields: 1.3 litre/quart ice cream
  • makes: 1.1 ltr/qrt ice cream mixture (before churning), perfect for ice cream makers of 1.5 ltr/qrt capacity and bigger
  • Special equipment: ice cream maker
  • yields: 1.3 litre/quart ice cream
  • ice cream maker capacity: for 1.5 ltr/qrt and up
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup = 237 ml , 1 tablespoon = 15 ml
Notes:

When making ice cream prefer to weigh all the ingredients by weight. We also recommend, whenever possible, weighing the liquid ingredients directly into the bowl/pan as you proceed with the recipe instead of transferring them from one bowl to another because this transfer causes a small -but unwanted- loss of quantity.

Note that the quantities in each measuring system (grams, ounces and cups) are not accurate conversions; they are independent and calculated in a way that works for each of them, so choose the one which works for you and stick to it.

If you do not have a kitchen scale, follow these guidelines:
• 1 cup (US) = 237 ml | 1 tablespoon = 15 ml

• sugar: measuring sugar in tablespoons is more accurate than measuring it in cups. Use a 15 ml measuring tablespoon (not a regular one); this is 13 gr of sugar. To measure correctly, each time you scoop the sugar, level it with the flat side of a knife.

• liquid ingredients: thoroughly scrape with a rubber spatula any residues left on the sides and bottom of the cup every time you measure something and empty it.

This recipe makes a 1.2 litre/quart ice cream mixture (before churning), perfect for ice cream makers with a capacity of 1.5 and up to 2 litres/quarts (like Cuisinart ice cream makers).
If you need to scale the ice cream mixture up or down, use this ratio of the ingredients (in weight only):

milk 68.6% / extra virgin coconut oil 15.8% / sugar 15.4% / xanthan gum 0.2%
in the desired total weight of the ice cream mixture.

You can adjust the quantity of the xanthan gum in the recipe to your liking, depending on the texture you want to achieve:

  • For a stretchy texture similar to Booza/salep ice cream, use 1 teaspoon xanthan gum and increase the sugar in the recipe by 15 g (0.5 oz).

You can read more about it here.

This coconut ice cream is perfect as it is. However, if you want to boost its flavour you can substitute the regular sugar with good-quality raw cane sugar, such as Demerara or Turbinado. These sugars pair well with tropical flavours, like coconut.

A flexible rubber spatula is good for:
-wiping the bottom of the saucepan when you cook dairy on the stovetop.
-scraping residues from bowls, saucepans etc.

If you do not have one, we strongly encourage you to buy one, preferably a flexible one. 

Instructions
Plan ahead:

The ice cream mixture needs to cool completely and rest before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator.

If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.

Step 1: Make the ice cream mixture

This step is a foolproof way to bring the ingredients to the right temperature before sprinkling the xanthan gum, without using a thermometer. To sum it up, all we do is combine part of the blend at fridge-cold temperature and the other part at boiling-hot temperature. And that’s it. The blend instantly reaches our target temperature for the xanthan gum to dissolve efficiently.

You can read more about this no-thermometer method here.

Pour half of the cold milk (380 g; 13.4 oz) into the blender jug and have it ready to blend (or into a large bowl, if using an immersion blender). If you do not proceed with the recipe immediately, put it in the refrigerator to keep cold.

Bring the rest of the milk, the coconut oil, and the sugar to a boil: pour the other half of the milk (380 g; 13.4 oz), all the coconut oil (175 g; 6.2 oz), and the sugar (170 g; 13 oz) into a medium saucepan.

Warm over medium heat, often stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the coconut melts. Increase the heat to high and when it comes to a rolling boil (when large bubbles that pop vigorously appear on the surface / 90°C / 195°F / if it starts to overflow), immediately remove it from the heat and pour it into the blender jug with the cold milk.

Do not let the milk come to a boil before all the sugar has dissolved, or the milk may curdle. Stirring often helps the sugar dissolve efficiently.

Turn the blender on (medium speed). Note: by blending that much boiling hot milk with that much fridge-cold milk, the blend instantly reaches approx. 60°C; 140°F; this is a good temperature for the xanthan gum to dissolve efficiently. 

Sprinkle in the xanthan gum: with the blender on, carefully open the cap and slowly sprinkle the xanthan gum (¾ teaspoon) over the surface. Blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum; do not estimate it the time, set a timer. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.

Step 2: Chill the ice cream mixture

Cool it down: prepare an ice bath by putting the bowl with the ice cream mixture into a larger bowl and filling the empty sides with ice cubes and cold water. How many ice cubes? A tray of ice cubes (200 g; 7 oz of ice) is enough to cool down the ice cream mixture: we just need to cool it down until it is no longer warm to the touch so that you can safely put it in the refrigerator. This will take approx. 20 minutes; do stir occasionally.

Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Xanthan gum needs 6-8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop, so do not rush the cooling process.

Step 3: Churn the ice cream

Check if the ice cream mixture is cold before churning it: it should feel fridge-cold when you place your finger into it (below 12ºC / 54ºF, if you have a thermometer).

Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 

Stir: give a nice, thorough stir to the ice cream mixture.

Churn: with the machine running, pour the ice cream mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker. Leave to churn until fluffed up and creamy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

This ice cream is ready when it is creamy and wavy. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.

To evaluate if it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon, but it will still be soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.

In any case, if you feel doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: at this stage, do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve ice cream. It will firm up and become like store-bought ice cream only after it sets in the freezer.

So, stop the ice cream maker when the ice cream is smooth and pliable. If you leave to churn it for much longer, it will start turning grainy.

Warning: some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the ice cream may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the ice cream, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.

Step 4: Put the ice cream in the freezer to set

Put in the freezer to set: before serving the ice cream or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and: 

· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine
· remove the paddle, scraping any ice cream attached to it back into the ice cream bowl 
· place it in the freezer, uncovered.
Setting time depends on many factors; see notes below for indicative times.

Serve or store: as soon as it sets, serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storing.

The setting time for the ice cream largely depends on the type of ice cream maker you use.

It can take:

  • 3-5 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the ice cream maker bowls which you should pre-freeze before churning)
  • 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)

Note: the times given are indicative.

Setting time depends on many factors.

Check it occasionally (approx. every 1-2 hours: or as needed) while it is in the freezer. The ice cream is ready when it has an internal temperature of -11°C / 12°F. If you do not have a thermometer, to check if the ice cream has set, insert a round tip knife into it, all the way to the bottom:

  • when the ice cream is ready, it feels firm as you go down, but at the same time, it is soft enough to insert the knife into it; it should be firm and with the same consistency from top to bottom.
  • not ready yet: it may feel hard on the top and softer as you go down
  • if left in the freezer for too long: it will be too hard to insert the knife into it; and likely too hard to scoop out of the ice cream bowl. In this case, click on the next bulb to see how to make it scoopable again.

If the ice cream stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will become too hard to remove or serve.

To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:

  • anywhere from 4 to 10 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the ones which need pre-freezing before churning)
  • 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)

(Note: the time given is indicative, time may vary depending on many factors, so do check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)

When the ice cream is soft enough to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C /12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the freezer bowl.

Straight after churning, the ice cream has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything. So it is too messy to serve or transfer to another container.

Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency: scoopable and easy to serve or transfer to another container to store it.

Storing and serving

Storing: in the freezer for one month, covered well to protect it from absorbing the freezer’s smells. 

Scooping: this ice cream, like all artisanal ice cream, freezes hard in the long term. You can make it perfectly scoopable again by putting it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minuter until soft; or until its internal temperature reads -10°C / 14°F.

Instructions

The ice cream mixture needs to cool completely and rest before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator.

If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.

Pour half the cold milk (380 g; 13.4 oz) into the blender jug and have it ready to blend (or into a large bowl, if using an immersion blender). If you do not proceed with the recipe immediately, put it in the refrigerator to keep cold.

Bring the rest of the milk, the coconut oil and the sugar to a boil: pour the other half of the milk (380 g; 13.4 oz), all the coconut oil (175 g; 6.2 oz), and the sugar (170 g; 13 oz) into a medium saucepan.

Warm over medium heat, often stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the coconut melts. Increase the heat to high and when it comes to a rolling boil (when large bubbles which pop vigorously appear on the surface / 90°C / 195°F / if it starts to overflow), immediately remove it from the heat and pour it into the blender jug with the cold milk.

Do not let the milk come to a boil before all the sugar has dissolved, or the milk may curdle. Stirring often helps the sugar dissolve efficiently.

Turn the blender on (medium speed). Note: by blending that much boiling hot milk with that much fridge-cold milk, the blend instantly reaches approx. 60°C; 140°F; this is a good temperature for the xanthan gum to dissolve efficiently. 

Sprinkle in the xanthan gum: with the blender on, carefully open the cap and slowly sprinkle the xanthan gum (¾ teaspoon) over the surface. Blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum; do not estimate it the time, set a timer. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.

Cool it down: prepare an ice bath by putting the bowl with the ice cream mixture into a larger bowl and filling the empty sides with ice cubes and cold water. How many ice cubes? A tray of ice cubes (200 g; 7 oz of ice) is enough to cool down the ice cream mixture: we just need to cool it down until it is no longer warm to the touch so that you can safely put it in the refrigerator. This will take approx. 20 minutes; do stir occasionally.

Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Xanthan gum needs 6-8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop, so do not rush the cooling process.

Check if the ice cream mixture is cold before churning it: it should feel fridge-cold when you place your finger into it (below 12ºC / 54ºF, if you have a thermometer).

Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 

Stir: give a nice, thorough stir to the ice cream mixture.

Churn: with the machine running, pour the ice cream mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker. Leave to churn until fluffed up and creamy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

Put in the freezer to set: before serving the ice cream or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and: 

· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine

· remove the paddle, scraping any ice cream attached to it back into the ice cream bowl 

· cover the ice cream bowl and place it in the freezer 

Setting time depends on many factors; see notes below for indicative times.

If you are storing the ice cream in a container, put it in the freezer too.

Serve or store: as soon as it sets, you can either serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storing. 

Storing: in the freezer for one month, covered well to protect it from absorbing the freezer’s smells. 

Scooping: this ice cream, like all artisanal ice cream, freezes hard in the long term. You can make it perfectly scoopable again by putting it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minuter until soft; or until its internal temperature reads -10°C / 14°F.

  • questions & troubleshooting

The process in step 1 is a foolproof way to bring the ingredients to the right temperature before sprinkling the xanthan gum, without using a thermometer. To sum it up, all we do is combine part of the blend at fridge-cold temperature and the other part at boiling-hot temperature. And that’s it. The blend instantly reaches our target temperature for the xanthan gum to dissolve efficiently.

You can read more about this no-thermometer method here.

When churning with a domestic ice cream maker, the ice cream mixture must be fridge-cold (4ºC–12ºC / 39ºF-54ºF / it feels fridge-cold when you place your index finger into it).

If the ice cream mixture is not cold enough, the ice cream maker may not be able to churn it to its fullest potential, resulting in a sloppy liquid vs. fluffy ice cream.

This ice cream will expand and fluff up during churning. It is ready when it looks smooth and fluffy, with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.

To evaluate if it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon, but it will still be soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.

In any case, if you feel doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: at this stage, do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve ice cream.

It will firm up and become like store-bought ice cream only after it sets in the freezer.

So, stop the ice cream maker when thick and creamy, as described above. If you leave to churn it for much longer, it will start turning grainy.

Note that some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the ice cream may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the ice cream, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.

The setting time for the ice cream largely depends on the type of ice cream maker you use.

It can take :

  • 3-5 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the ice cream maker bowls which you should pre-freeze before churning)
  • 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)

Note: the times given are indicative. Setting time depends on many factors.

Check it occasionally (approx. every 2 hours; or as needed) while it is in the freezer. The ice cream is ready when it has an internal temperature of -11ºC / 12ºF. If you do not have a thermometer, to evaluate if the ice cream has set, insert a round tip knife into it, all the way to the bottom: 

  • when the ice cream is ready, it feels firm as you go down, but at the same time it is soft enough to insert the knife into it; it should have this same firm consistency from top to bottom.
  • not ready yet: it will feel hard on the top and softer as you go down
  • if left in the freezer for too long: it will be too hard for the knife to insert into it and too hard to scoop out of the ice cream bowl. Do not worry, though! Read right below how to soften it.

Straight after churning, the ice cream has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything. This makes it impossible to serve or transfer to another container.

Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency, similar to that of an ice cream parlour’s.

If the ice cream stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will harden and be difficult to remove or serve.

To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:

  • anywhere from 4 to 10 hours for removable freezer bowls (the ones which need pre-freezing before churning)
  • 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)

(Note: the time given is indicative, time may vary depending on many factors, so do check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)

When the ice cream is easy to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C / 12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl.

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3 Responses

  1. looks good, not many recipes use coconut oil, is there a particular benefit over coconut milk or cream? is there a risk of it re-solidifying?

    Reply

    1. Virgin coconut oil adds a lively and fresh coconut flavour to the ice cream, a taste that coconut milk and coconut cream do not offer. In this recipe, it emulsifies smoothly within the ice cream mixture. While the ice cream is slightly firmer than when using heavy cream, it becomes perfectly scoopable again after being placed in the fridge for 40 minutes. This is something we typically do when storing our ice cream in domestic freezers. Thank you for your great questions!

      Reply

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