Vegan Cheddar Ice Cream Recipe (Like Dairy-Free Frozen Custard!)

Oh yes, you read that title correctly. This really is vegan cheddar ice cream. Chefs use cream cheese, ricotta, and mascarpone in many dessert recipes, and cheddar even makes appearances in some apple pies, so why not ice cream? This recipe is a sample from the wildly creative cookbook Super Vegan Scoops by Hannah Kaminsky. It’s just a taste of the decadent and unique frozen desserts you will find in her latest tome.

Vegan Cheddar Ice Cream that Rivals the Creamiest Frozen Custard

The following excerpt is from Super Vegan Scoops, and it explains why you must try this Vegan Cheddar Ice Cream.

Cheese . . . in a dessert? Clearly, some terrible mistake has been made . . . Pondering what deranged, misled cook thought it was a good idea to top a perfectly good apple pie with little shreds of florescent orange cheddar cheese, the combination struck me as downright repulsive.

Perhaps sheltered from such cheesy practices, it wasn’t until reading about this oddity online, only a few years ago, did I even know such a thing existed.

It sounds bizarre, but the results were truly less shocking that I had imagined. Despite employing a whole package of the orange stuff, the flavor is quite mild. What’s most striking about this scoop is the lovely bouquet of floral vanilla aroma, followed by the slightest hint of umami and a curiously sharp twang that might be hard for an unsuspecting taster to place.

Moreover, what really made this frozen concoction special was the texture. Thanks to the stretchy, gooey, meltable shred, a richer, smoother, or creamier custard could not be imagined. For that reason alone, I implore you to break down your ideas of “normal” and give the recipe a go! If you’re still intimidated by the idea of a cheesy ice cream, perhaps give a mild mozzarella-style cheese a spin instead, and rest assured that it’s hardly present when paired with a strong enough vanilla extract.

Special Diet Notes: Vegan Cheddar Ice Cream

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.

Vegan Cheddar Ice Cream

Author: Hannah Kaminsky

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

2 cups vanilla dairy-free milk beverage
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
½ cup sugar
10 ounces (about 2 cups) vegan cheddar-style cheese shreds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon ground pepper

First, allow all the ingredients to come up to room temperature if they were previously refrigerated. This is critical, because the cheese shreds change considerably in texture, becoming much softer and easier to melt when already warm.
Combine the milk beverage, starch, and sugar in a medium saucepan, and whisk vigorously to break up any lumps. Place on the stove over medium heat, and add the cheese shreds into the pan, whisking gently until the mixture is smooth. Continue to whisk every couple of minutes, until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook for about a minute longer, until fully thickened, and turn off the heat. Add in the vanilla, and season with salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate.
Let cool, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before churning in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the soft ice cream to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for another 3 hours minimum, until frozen solid, before serving.

Editor Note: In a pinch, you can substitute another starch for the arrowroot starch.

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