Recipe: Sugar free choc mint and coconut ice cream

Most of you may have heard of “Dry July” which is a charitable fundraiser in Australia to promote well being by abstaining from alcohol for a month.   But for those of us gym junkies and fitness fanatics who don’t normally drink anyway the bar was set a little higher with no sugar for the month of July.  Day 7 and it is ten degrees outside and yet I come up with this brilliant idea to try and make sugar free ice cream.  I don’t even know why because my two main sweet loves in this world are chocolate and cake-but here I was trying make it. 

Anyway, it actually turned out very delicious (better than my attempt at sugar free chocolate mousse) considering there was no sugar or sugar substitutes and no dried fruit.  So for those partaking in sugar free July, or looking for a healthy alternative-healthier than yoghurt as yoghurt has nasty hidden sugars and preservatives – I would definitely give it a go.  Even if you don’t have an ice cream maker it turns out perfect!  It worked out to be approximately 50 calories per serve.

You can also play around with flavour combinations but because you are using the coconut milk it really gives a creamy texture which mimics ice cream.  By adding the peppermint essence and cocoa it also assists to make it emazingly sweet.  If you are not a fan of coconut milk you can substitute this with almond milk. 

Ingredients:

One can of light coconut milk

3 tablespoons of good quality sifted dark cocoa powder

2 teaspoons of peppermint essence

½ teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Method without an ice cream maker:

Put all of your ingredients in a bowl and beat on high for as long as possible – about ten minutes is enough; and

Place in your containers and freeze.

Method using an ice cream maker:

Put all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix;

Place in your ice cream maker and churn for twenty minutes and freeze.

Tips:

Make sure that your cocoa powder is dissolved through the mixture and is not grainy.  If you do not use a good quality powder then you may want to dissolve it first in a little bit of boiling water prior to adding.