Blackberry Icecream- vegan, sugar free, gluten free, soya free

September 17, 2013

Blackberry Icecream- vegan, sugar free, gluten free, soya free

Perfect alone or garnished with a fresh lemon balm leaves (or even chunks of dark chocolate!)

Last Saturday was a gloriously sunny day, so we went to our allotment to cut grass, water the polytunnel and pick runner beans, courgettes, beetroot, potato and some early parsnips. When I had finished picking I decided to forage around the hedges surrounding the site for blackberries. I was rewarded with some of the plumpest, sweetest blackberries I'd ever seen, so straight away they were earmarked for something special... and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. Icecream. Sweet, fruity and Autumnal- who said icecream is only for Summer? We polished off this icecream in one sitting, sharing the 800-ish ml between five of us (one scoop each.)

1 cup (250ml) chopped dried dates

2 cups whole blackberries

100-150ml water

400ml (1 can) coconut milk

2 tsps Orgran "No Egg" (or tapioca starch, or even custard powder)

First make the puree by simmering the chopped dates with the water until you get a paste- I helped this along by using a hand blender once all the water had been absorbed.
Add 1 cup of the blackberries to the date paste and continue to simmer until they have broken down and the whole thing is a thick puree.
Optional but worth it: Rub the puree through a fine-meshed sieve to get rid of those annoying little blackberry seeds. This will take quite a few minutes, and you have to make sure you don't lose too much volume. You should end up with about a cup of puree, maybe a little less.
Now pour your coconut milk into a saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer. Use a balloon whisk to blend in the puree. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the No Egg, then stir in the other cupful of blackberries.
Pour the liquid into a bowl and let it cool down.
Put it in the freezer. Remove and beat when partly frozen to keep it soft. Return to the freezer, but don't let it freeze too hard. Or, if you are lucky enough to own one, use an icecream maker.
If you don't mind about eating sugar: Serve with chunks of dark chocolate, or even mix in some when you add the whole blackberries. Yum!

Note: If you are foraging blackberries or any other wild plant or fruit, make sure you do not pick them near a roadside however tempting they may look, as they will have absorbed toxins from the car fumes. When picking blackberries choose firm, unbroken, clean, ripe and shiny fruits. Avoid dull ones, and those with a grey or white bloom (this is mould). Check carefully for flies, grubs and other creepy-crawlies. To ensure they are as clean as possible, only pick berries growing higher up than a couple of feet, especially in places where people walk their dogs. Wash your blackberries carefully by rinsing gently with cold water, and store in the fridge.