This scoop of cinnamon ice cream was supposed to be sitting on top of a lovely gluten and sugar free apple pie. Alas, I have not yet mastered the art of making an apple pie. The pie tasted great, but I baked it a little too long and the apples were mushy, so I’ll have to try again and will hopefully be posting the apple pie here soon. Now, about the ice cream…
There’s just something about cinnamon ice cream – when I have it on top of apple pie, I’m transported back in time to high school evenings spent catching up with friends at King’s Restaurant, a hangout which may be familiar to you if you’re from somewhere in western Pennsylvania. Warm apple pie with cinnamon ice cream is the restaurant’s trademark, or it used to be, and sometimes I wanted to go to King’s just for this. No appetizer, no meal, just the apple pie a la mode with cinnamon ice cream. Probably not the healthiest thing, but I wasn’t really thinking much about nutrition when I was a teenager. Boy, do things change!
Instead of using arrowroot starch to thicken the base, as I did with my original sugar free ice cream recipe, I went back to xanthan gum, which was my first choice in the ice crystal formation prevention department when I still used agave nectar as a sweetener. I had some concern that the texture wouldn’t be as nice as it was in combination with the agave, but I guess that the agave wasn’t as much of a factor as I thought it was because I was very happy with the result. I used half dairy cream and half lite coconut milk, and the finished ice cream was scoopable, with a great texture. It tasted pretty awesome, too! And the xanthan gum is a much better option for those of you counting carbs. Both arrowroot and xanthan gum have 7 grams of carbs per tablespoon, but instead of the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot starch that I used in the original recipe, I only use 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum here with very similar results.
Ingredients
2/3 cup xylitol (or 1/2cup xylitol plus 1/4 cup erythritol)
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
1 can (13.5 to 14 oz.) lite coconut milk
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the sweetener(s) and the xanthan gum until the xanthan gum is evenly distributed. This step is important, as adding the xanthan gum after you add the wet ingredients will leave you with gummy lumps throughout your ice cream base.
2. Add the heavy cream and coconut milk to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until the xylitol is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cinnamon and vanilla. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes to cool, then transfer the base to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator at least 8 hours, or overnight.
4. Before you put the base into your ice cream maker, you may want to give it a good shake to redistribute the ingredients. Make the ice cream according to your ice cream maker instructions and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.
Posted in Alternatively Sweetened, Desserts, Food, Gluten Free | 2 Comments »
Yum! This sounds delicious =D. I love cinnamon, and with ice cream, its perfect!
posted: October 13th, 2009 at 4:48 pmOh Yum! I bet this is super creamy with the coconut aswell! I’m going to have to invest in an icecream maker this summer!
posted: October 13th, 2009 at 8:13 pm