Ice Coffee

Can you imagine not having ice coffee for almost 4 years? While I was on Camden's allergy free diet, I really missed the instant ice coffee. The one that came in single serving pouch and all I had to do was mix the granulated instant coffee in a tall glass of milk and add ice cubes.

After Camden outgrew his food intolerant, I added the instant ice coffee to my grocery list. When I found the coffee I had over four years ago, I noticed the packaging changed. It looked pretty.

As a habit, I always read labels. So I went ahead and read the ingredients of this instant ice coffee. What the...!!! 13 ingredients listed and I was able to understand two of them: coffee and milk. The other ingredients were the things from a sci-fi script: dipotassium phosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, or silicon dioxide. What the hell was I drinking before I knew how to read labels? Forget the pretty packaging. This is insane.

I still had the ice coffee craving, so I decided to find the cleaned ingredients and make my own version. First, I found grounded coffee. Check. Then I found Organic Valley half and half. Check. But then I spotted their hazelnut flavor. It was the cleanest and best flavor half and half I found. Plus no guar gum.

After making many cups of ice coffee, my coffee maker bit the dust. I'm not really a coffee drinker, so I don't wanna spend money on another coffee maker. So I went back to many grocery stores and found 100% instant granulated coffee. Check.

After all of the dilemma I went through, I can now blog and add ice coffee to my list of something sweeter. Feeling adventurous? Crush the ice cubes using a blender or shave ice using the shave ice machine then add the coffee. Ohhh soooo gooood!!!

Ice Coffee
serves 3

1 1/2 cups (12 oz) water, divided
3 teaspoons instant granulated coffee (365)
1 cup (8 oz) hazelnut half and half (Organic Valley)
lotsa ice cubes

1. In a microwavable cup, warm the 4 ounces of water, about 20 seconds.
2. Add instant coffee and stir until dissolved.
3. Pour the coffee into a bottle or a pitcher.
4. Add the 9 ounces of water.
5. Add the hazelnut half and half and stir until combine. Organic Valley hazelnut half and half is already sweetened with organic cane sugar. Taste the coffee before adding sugar or other sweetener.
6. Fill the tall glass with ice cubes then add the coffee. Enjoy it on a hot day.

Allergy Info: My ice coffee recipe is free from or can be made without eggs, legumes (soy), wheat, and fish. To make it dairy, corn, or nut free, use dairy, corn or nut free milk and/or half and half. Then add the sweetener to your liking. 

Strawberry Ice Cream

After I successfully made coconut ice cream, I decided to venture on making another ice cream flavor. I came across a strawberry ice cream on William Sonoma that doesn't use eggs. Instead, the recipe called for crème fraîche. The author noted that crème fraîche helps the ice cream retains the soft texture which is known as the Philadelphia-style ice cream.

I personally don't like to make custard based ice cream. Too much work. Plus I have to decide what to do with the egg whites that aren't called for in the egg based recipes.

I thought this strawberry ice cream is also perfect cold dessert for anyone who has egg allergy. Unfortunately, when I tested this recipe, the heavy whipping cream in my fridge was about to expired. If you cannot have any cow's milk products, substitute cream with coconut milk and sour cream with sheep's milk yogurt. Add extra sweetener to your liking as the yogurt may be pretty sour.

Strawberry Ice Cream
adapted from William Sonoma's Strawberry and Crème Fraîche Ice Cream
makes half quart

1 cup (8 oz) heaving whipping cream (Organic Valley), divided
1/2 cup (4 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream (Daisy) or vanilla crème fraiche (Vermont Creamery)
2 cups (8 oz) frozen or fresh strawberries (365 Organic frozen)

1. In a large bowl, warm 1/4 cup of the cream in a microwave about 15 seconds.
2. Whisk in sugar until dissolved.
3. In a blender, puree together the sugar mixture, cream, sour cream or crème fraiche, and strawberries, about 30 seconds.
4. Transfer the strawberry cream to a freezable container.
5. Freeze it for two hours and then beat it with a fork.
6. Put it back into the freezer for another 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Allergy Info: This strawberry ice cream is free from eggs, legumes (soy), nuts, wheat, and fish. Some people reported a corn reaction with Organic Valley's and Daisy's products. I'm not sure if any of the Vermont Creamery's products are corn free. Aroy-D coconut milk is corn free. Please let me know if you are able to find alternative corn free ingredients.

Coconut Ice Cream

I luv anything coconut. My mom recently moved in with me and mentioned that she was craving coconut ice cream. BUT she has dairy intolerance. Just like Brek, she doesn't know how much dairy she can tolerant. So I decided to make her some coconut ice cream with as little amount of dairy as possible.

This is a super easy coconut ice cream recipe. There is no needed to use an ice cream maker if making a day ahead.

Adding coconut meat is optional. I don't add them into my coconut ice cream because I prefer smooth texture ice cream. My kids were creative and sprinkled their coconut ice cream with chocolate chips. The possibilities of toppings are endless.

Coconut Ice Cream
serve 4 to 6

1 cup (8 oz) coconut milk (Aroy-D)
1/4 cup (2.3 oz) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz) heavy whipping cream
1/2 Tablespoon lime juice (from half of a lime)

1. Warm 1/2 cup (4 oz) of coconut milk using a microwave or on a stove top.
2. Whisk in the sugar until it is dissolved.
3. Using a blender, mix together the sugar mixture, heavy cream, and line juice.

Using an ice cream maker

1. Pour the coconut cream mixture into the ice cream maker's freezer bowl.
2. Turn on the machine and allow the coconut cream mixture to churn for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Transfer the coconut ice cream to a freezable container and freeze it for an hour before serving.

Without using an ice cream maker

Coconut Ice Cream

1. Transfer the coconut cream mixture to the freezable container.
2. Freeze the ice cream for an hour.
3. Take out the ice cream and beat it with a fork.
4. Put the coconut ice cream back in the freezer.
5. Freeze it for four hours or overnight before serving.

Note: If the ice cream is frozen solid, leave it out at the room temperature for 15 minutes or microwave it in 10 minutes interval to achieve the soft texture.

Allergy Info: This coconut ice cream is free from eggs, nuts, legumes (soy), wheat, and fish. To make it dairy free, substitute heavy cream with coconut cream. To make this coconut ice cream corn free, use the corn free sugar and cream. Aroy-D coconut milk is corn free as of this writing.