This mega delicious Cardamom Spiced Coconut Ice Cream is the ice cream version of the popular Sri Lankan watalappan (which is a creamy, baked, cardamom spiced coconut dessert!).
This vegan ice cream is also paired with a cardamom and cashew praline for another layer of incredible flavor! Super easy ice cream recipe with an irresistible tropical twist!
Watalappan
Does the name Watalappan sound familiar to you? I shared the recipe for the traditional Sri Lankan watalappan a few months ago, and it’s one of the most popular posts on this blog.
It’s a cardamom and nutmeg spiced coconut custard, one of our favorite classic Sri Lankan desserts with a uniquely fantastic combination of flavors and texture.
I’ve shared a bunch of my favorite ice cream recipes on the blog before. From classic vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and mint chocolate chip ice cream to more fun flavors such as date and tahini ice cream, ube ice cream, cereal milk ice cream etc., there are so many interesting flavors that you can develop with ice cream.
But I wanted to go where no one else has gone before and turn the amazing watalappan dessert into an ice cream. I had the option of using eggs to make the ice cream or make it completely vegan.
I was intrigued by the thought of making a vegan ice cream and decided to hand myself the challenge. Then I made it even better by making a Cardamom and Cashew Praline that paired with the flavors in this ice cream perfectly! That praline is SO good, you’ll be eating it on its own. Mark my words.
So I researched on how to replicate the creamy thickness of the ice cream base without adding eggs. The two options I seriously considered were cornstarch and Xanthan gum. Both are capable of absorbing liquid and therefore act as thickening agents (there are many other starch options with which you could do this as well).
Cornflour or cornstarch is obviously a starch. It works really well for desserts like custards and puddings. It’s also a great choice if you don’t need to freeze your mixture – so if you want to make the traditional watalappan custard WITHOUT eggs (and still get a creamy pudding-like consistency), cornstarch is the way to go.
However at low, freezing temperatures, cornflour loses its structure and doesn’t maintain that thick consistency required for ice cream and also doesn’t become as “airy” as needed when you whip air into it.
Xanthan Gum is a polysaccharide often used in foods as a thickener and it’s produced naturally by bacterial fermentation and synthetically as well.
It’s a stronger thickener than cornstarch and acts like an emulsifier as well. It is also very stable at freezing temperatures, and therefore great for ice cream as it allows proper aeration which in turn allows the desired consistency of ice cream to be achieved.
I have to say though, I do not like using Xanthan gum for puddings/custards. It’s more of a personal preference really, but for ice cream it works well.
Only a small amount of Xanthan Gum is required to thicken your mixture. And I mean, a very small amount – generally about 0.5% of the total weight of your mixture! However because it clumps up very quickly, it does need to be mixed in vigorously! I used an immersion blender, and it worked perfectly.
And if you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make this vegan coconut ice cream as a no-churn ice cream by using a hand-held beater to churn this base, by mixing it every hour until the mixture hardens in the freezer.
It will still give you a delicious and smooth ice cream, but of course an ice cream churner will yield smoother results.
A note on being Vegan Friendly – As a reader pointed out, I did not clarify the sources of the sugar I used. Due to the bone-char refining process, most white sugars and brown sugars are not vegan friendly.
As per my original watalappan recipe, I use Billingtons for this recipe (IF I can’t get my hands on some classic Sri Lankan jaggery (which is vegan friendly), AND I use Imperial Granulated Pure Cane Sugar for the praline – which is vegan friendly as well.
Recipe
Vegan Cardamom Spiced Coconut Ice Cream
US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results whenever available.
Common Measurement ConversionsIngredients:
Vegan Cardamom Spiced Coconut Ice Cream
- 720 mL full fat coconut milk 3 cups. OR unsweetened coconut cream
- 200 g jaggery OR 1 cup packed dark brown sugar like – Muscovado sugar
- 6 cardamom pods ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp Xanthan gum this can be found in most grocery or specialty stores – sometimes in the gluten free section
- 1 pinch sea salt
Cardamom Cashew Praline
- ½ tsp ground cardamom about 5 cardamom pod seeds ground, pre-ground is OK too
- 130 g white sugar ⅔ cup
- 85 g roughly chopped cashew nuts roasted / toasted lightly
Instructions:
- If you're using jaggery, grate the jaggery and set it aside.200 g jaggery
- Separate about ¼ cup of the jaggery / dark brown sugar and set aside.200 g jaggery
- In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, rest of the jaggery / brown sugar, nutmeg, cardamom pods, salt and heat gently to bring the coconut milk to a simmer while stirring to completely dissolve the sugar. Let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes, to infuse the spices.720 mL full fat coconut milk, 200 g jaggery, 6 cardamom pods, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, 1 pinch sea salt
- If you used cardamom pods, strain this out of the mixture and set the coconut mix to the side and discard the cardamom pods.
- Add the xanthan gum to the sugar that you set aside earlier and whisk it together really well. This will prevent the xanthan gum from forming lumps in the liquid.½ tsp Xanthan gum
- Add the xanthan gum / sugar mixture to the heated coconut milk and use an immersion hand blender to blend the Xanthan gum into the mixture properly – for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can use a regular blender to do this as well (just make sure your blender can handle hot liquids – if not, let the mixture cool down a bit first and then proceed with this step).
- The liquid should be thick but NOT GLOOPY. If it is gloopy, add a little water to thin it out to a thick consistency.
- Once the mixture has cooled down, pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps and spices that are too large.
- Let it cool completely and chill overnight in the fridge.
With ice cream machine
- Churn the base according to the manufacturers' instructions and let it harden completely in a container for a few hours.
No churn method
- Transfer the base into a shallow dish, and keep it in the freezer, covered.
- Using a hand mixer, mix this mixture every hour incorporating air each time. Repeat every hour until the ice cream is completely frozen.
- Serve as is or with Cardamom Cashew Praline.
Cardamom cashew praline
- Prepare a silpat or parchment paper on a baking tray to pour the praline on.
- To caramelize sugar using the dry method – in a shallow nonstick pan, sprinkle the sugar in an even thin layer and heat the sugar on medium heat.130 g white sugar
- As the sugar starts to melt, move the sugar around to ensure it melts evenly which may result in some sugar clumps being formed. Keep heating the sugar while moving it around from time to time. DO NOT LEAVE THE SUGAR UNATTENDED.
- The sugar will start to turn color and melt completely. When the sugar turns a golden color, sprinkle the cardamom over the caramel. When the sugar turns an amber color, immediately remove from the heat and add the cashew, and using a spoon mix to coat the nuts as much as possible.½ tsp ground cardamom, 85 g roughly chopped cashew nuts
- While still hot, pour this onto your silpat and flatten (using the spoon) as much as possible. BE CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH THIS MIXTURE AS IT WILL BE VERY HOT!
- Let it cool and harden completely.
- Using the handle of a big knife or a pestle, break it into small pieces. Store in an air tight container until ready to use.
- This can be sprinkled on any kind of ice cream or dessert.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
So will you like it? I think you MOST DEFINITELY WILL! 🙂
As far as I know, no one has made Watalappan ice cream before, but for those of you have have had the classic custard, this has all the same and wonderful flavors, but creamier, just like an ice cream is supposed to be. And of course it’s vegan too.
This recipe isn’t as rich as the regular custard because it doesn’t contain egg yolks, but I’ve made sure it tastes just as freaking amazing! 🙂
And for those of you who haven’t had the classic watalappan (cardamom and nutmeg spiced coconut custard) – The coconut here makes it deliciously creamy and together with the molassy dark brown sugar and the beautiful warmth of cardamom and nutmeg, you get an ice cream that will taste unlike anything you’ve had before!
And to top it all off (quite literally), the sweet cardamom-cashew praline adds a sweet-spicy crunch that will make eating this ice cream a truly addictive experience! 🙂 Trust me on that one too.
If you want to be adventurous with your ice cream this summer – THIS is what you’ve got to try!
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