135 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delicious!!! And in many cases, so easy to make that it practically makes itself!, March 29, 2006
This review is from: Vice Cream: Gourmet Vegan Desserts (Paperback)
I held off reviewing Vice Cream until I made the following flavors at least once and shared them with a friend: Vanilla Delight, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, Mint Carob Chip, Chocoholic Delight (chocolate chocolate chip), and in the raw section, Strawberry. After all, I wanted to be able to review this book with some authority. :-)
And the verdict is: Delicious!!! In fact, the regular Vice Creams (cashew based) are better than all the Baskin Robbins and packaged ice cream I had before I was vegan, and equal in deliciousness to homemade dairy ice cream. The regular Vice Creams are also better than all the packaged vegan ice creams I've ever had. The only equally tasty non-dairy ice cream I've had is made fresh at the soy dairy at The Farm in Summertown, TN.
The raw strawberry Vice Cream I made (p. 48), (the first of the two raw strawberry Vice Creams in the book) was very good, but not as fabulously delicious as the cashew based Vice Creams. In addition, the raw strawberry Vice Cream was more complicated to make than the regular Vice Creams, as I had to make almond milk first, which involves soaking almonds overnight, blending them with water, and then squeezing the water through a nut bag. The dates muddied the pink color a bit, so if you want a raw vice cream with the pink color you've grown accustomed to in childhood, you might want to try sweetening with agave nectar instead of dates.
I had never made home made ice cream nor Vice Cream before, and I was amazed at how simple it is. To make regular Vice Cream, I blend cashews, water, and some flavorings in a high powered blender which I chill overnight in the fridge. I use a K-Tech, but a Vitamix would work too. A regular blender would probably work if you blend longer. The next morning, I pour the blender contents in a Cuisinart ice cream maker (adding any chocolate chips near the end of the mixing time) and about 20 minutes later, I have fresh, delicious, soft-serve ice cream. If I want it firmer, I freeze it a few hours. It's important that when freezing the ice cream, you don't pack it into the container, otherwise you're defeating the purpose of the ice cream machine mixing the contents with air. Jeff says Vice Cream keeps several months, but at my house it's always finished within a week.
Vice Cream comments:
* I have calibrated my sweet tooth to be about 75% of Jeff Rogers' sweet tooth. When he calls for 1 cup of maple syrup, I use 3/4 cup and add an extra quarter cup of water. When he calls for 1 cup pitted dates, I use 3/4 cup, otherwise I find the Vice Cream too sweet.
* I always use ground up fresh vanilla bean in place of any vanilla flavor Jeff calls for. It's extra work to cut a vanilla bean into small pieces and grind it up in a coffee grinder, but totally worth it.
* There is controversy in the raw foods community about whether cashews can really be raw. The Living Tree Community says their cashews are really raw, and I believe them. One can increase the rawness of the cashew-based Vice Creams by sweetening with raw sweeteners such as dates or agave nectar.
* I've tried many of the "ordinary" ice cream flavors. I leave it to someone else to review the Raw Jalapeno Heaven and the Coconut Durian!
* There's a pattern to making the Vice Creams. If your favorite flavor is not in the book, it would be easy to use Jeff's book as a template to concoct your own.
The bottom line on Vice Cream is that it's delicious and quite easy to make. I'm looking forward to my first summer with Vice Cream! :-)
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70 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yummy Desserts at Last!, March 16, 2005
This review is from: Vice Cream: Gourmet Vegan Desserts (Paperback)
As someone who preferred Ben & Jerry's and Hagen Daaz only a few short years ago, I have never liked the soy based "ice creams" sold in stores. Now that I no longer eat dairy, I have more often skipped dessert altogether rather than eat the soy brands unless I was desparate. No more! This wonderful little cookbook is a dream come true. I was very skeptical when I first saw it: How can cashews and maple syrup even begin to satisfy my craving for a rich, creamy frozen dessert? Well, they can and then some. I couldn't be happier with the taste and texture I found with the first recipe I tried (chocolate, of course). Also, the recipes are very easy to follow and take very little time. And the selection of recipes is mouth watering; there are so many great flavors to choose from.
One thing readers should be aware of is that almost all of the vice cream recipes use cashews, which can be pretty expensive. Give it a try, though, and you won't be able to resist!
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