Farmer’s market cherries are in full swing and each week I make sure I wake up early enough to get a primo bag or two! Who knows how long my fingers will be stained from all this pitting but, man, it is soooo worth it. This little beauty of a recipe couldn’t get any easier or unadulterated. It’s a coconut milk based ice cream so dairy-free people everywhere rejoice, this little ditty is for you! 🙂 Personally, I enjoy dairy as may have been obvious in the roasted cherry goat cheese and pistachio ice cream recipe posts from a while back, but I will admit to frequently craving the the creamy richness of coconut milk over cow cream on hot days. I’m a bit obsessed with coconut and cherry so this is a favorite of mine. It’s a great way to cool off on a hot day!
This is a mostly raw recipe but I believe that the way commercial coconut milk is made involves cooking or heating at the very least so I don’t want to stake an absolute raw claim on this one. I’m sensitive to the gums in canned coconut milk so I have make homemade coconut milk which means that, for me, this recipe is always raw!
What are you waiting for?! Get yourself some cherries and start pitting! 😉 If you want to make it quicker and easier, I recommend this cherry pitter.
** little tip I learned the hard way: after pitting the cherries halve them to make sure the pit is out and there isn’t a second sneaky pit hiding out in there. The first time I made this I heard the dreaded sound of a pit clunking around in the blender and I knew I was totally screwed. It was so tasty we all just devoured the ice cream and pulled little pieces of pit out of our teeth for the rest of the night. Yup, I know how to throw a pretty sexy dinner party;)
- 3 cups pitted sweet red cherries, I use this cherry pitter
- 1 can or 1-3/4 cups full fat coconut milk
- ¼ cup raw honey, or maple syrup/agave for vegan versions
- 1 tsp ground vanilla bean
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ¼ tsp hazelnut extract
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened dried shaved coconut
- Throw it all in a blender and process.
- Pour into ice cream maker and spin about 20 minutes or until the ice cream thickens up. yup, it's that easy!
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