Vegan Ice Cream Enters a Golden Age
Two summers ago, a friend and I met for coffee and ice cream. She got a scoop of vegan chocolate mint chip — and a whole-milk cappuccino.
I just like the vegan version better, she explained, offering me a bite.
Whether or not the vegan chocolate mint chip was better than its dairy iteration is debatable. But what was clear was that it was absolutely delicious: silky, creamy and very smooth. And totally superior to the chalky, soy-based Tofutti Cuties my lactose-avoiding friends got stuck with at the end of every summer barbecue, for lack of a better option.
Happily, this is no longer the case. The past few years have been a glorious time for vegans and others who stay forgo dairy.
And as the demand for nondairy explodes, so does the number of products on the market, including a slew of brand-new nondairy ice creams, yogurts and cheeses, along with the various nut and plant milks used to make them. And even better, many of these new products actually taste great, which is a boon whether you strictly avoid dairy at all costs, or just want to expand your creamy horizons.
Mark Van Buskirk, group vice president for grocery merchandising at Albertsons Companies, which operates the Safeway supermarket chain, among others, said that sales of all nondairy products had been steadily increasing over the past two years, with packaged nondairy ice cream leading the way (up by 50 percent over the last 12 months).
Mr. Van Buskirk sees this trend continuing, keeping in step with the decline in sales of traditional dairy products.
“The growth in nut milks in particular has been exponential compared to regular dairy,” he said, adding that soy milk sales are decreasing as those of nut and other plant milks rise.
For home cooks, this is promising territory, a rich if head-spinning new world of ingredients to experiment with.
Supermarket shelves are now filled with quarts of plant-based milks. Cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, oat, flax, rice, quinoa and hemp varieties have joined the ranks of coconut, soy and almond milks. On a trip to France this summer, I even sampled chestnut milk, and I am still kicking myself for not buying an extra suitcase to haul home containers of the sweet, gentle elixir.
But with so many options, which plant-based milk, or combination of milks, makes the best homemade nondairy ice cream?
A few years ago, I experimented with ratios of cream, milk and eggs to create a master recipe for a custard ice cream base. So it seemed only natural that I give nondairy ice cream the same thorough treatment, creating an adaptable base, along with a grid of different ways to flavor it. (You can read more about in this guide to making ice cream.)
But even before I began my testing, I had some experience making nondairy ice creams, most of them relying on readily available, relatively inexpensive coconut milk. With its high fat content…
