If you haven’t already thought about adding plant-based recipes into your cabinet then now is most definitely the time to.
Talk continues on how we can effectively market to vegans and Flexitarians; many are beginning to realise that it isn’t enough just to make vegan ice cream, it has to be good vegan ice cream.
You may have tried and failed to incorporate these recipes a few years ago, but we have seen a remarkable increase in demand for these products, making them a must for your cabinet.
What plant-based ingredients should you be using?
Of course, we need to consider what we can replace that crucial ice cream ingredient (cow’s milk) with when considering plant-based alternatives. And the most popular milks at the moment appear to be oat and coconut milk.
Many of the larger ice cream producers tend to favour oat milks; however, the alternative to milk you choose will depend entirely on the ice cream you’re making!
Below we will take a look at how to determine your milk of choice…
Choosing the ideal vegan ingredients
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to vegan milks is that they taste of the source that they come from.
For example coconut milk is ideal within a coconut flavoured gelato, hazelnut milk will be ideal for hazelnut flavoured ice cream, soy is another choice but its strong flavour means its not always ideal for an ice cream recipe. But if you want your vegan ice cream to really wow your customers, you need to offer a wide variety of flavours (as you would with traditional cow’s milk ice cream).
Cow’s milk is made up of fat, lactose, protein and water. So another alternative to this would be creating your own plant based liquid milk with water, vegetable protein, vegetable fat and sugar (to replace the lactose). This will give us a similar texture and mouth-feel in ice cream.
Fat and proteins, when heated and agitated, bind together; binding in water from the ingredients and emulsifying, this prevents water from forming into ice crystals. And yep you guessed it, this provides the ideal ice cream or gelato texture.
The fat and protein challenge
But there is yet another hurdle to overcome with both plant-based milks and powders, in that neither provide the same amount of fat or protein as animal milk would.
For example, full fat cows milk typically provides 4.25% or standardised from the dairy at 3.7% fat and 3.3% protein. These proteins are scientifically the best kind for ice cream, as they allow the mixture to bind well, leaving us with great structure.
On the other hand, an oat milk would only typically contain 1.5% fat and a measly 1% protein. This is under half the fat and only a third of the protein you would get with animal milk.
The only plant-based milk that comes close to full fat animal milk is hemp (3% fat and 2% protein), and whilst you may think this sounds ideal, trust us when we say that the taste of hemp milk is pretty vile in an ice cream (and that’s putting it politely).
So the conundrum is, where can we get that extra fat and protein? The answer to this is using a deodorised vegetable fat.
There are a number of vegetable fats out there. But the likes of palm fats would not be classed as vegan due to their association with deforestation. Ethically, coconut fat is the best option for your ice cream recipe. What is acceptable can vary, so check the latest information that your customers will consider important.
By using deodorised coconut fat, we can increase the mouth-feel warmth and creaminess of your ice cream base, without introducing unwanted flavours.
Antonelli has been developing vegan ice cream recipes for the past ten years, creating tasty recipes using water, plant-based powders or milks, deodorised coconut fat and specialist plant proteins to create ice creams with a great structure and taste, used by many clients across the UK.
There are, of course, simply-made products that Antonelli supplies, that you can just add water to. Although this comes at a higher material cost per container, it can save time and reduce need for low usage ingredient.
Getting your flavours right
So now we have the texture right, its time to figure out our flavours!
The best way to counteract those strong plant-based milk flavours, is to use more than one. For example, if you wanted to use oat but you don’t want the flavour of oat, it’s best to use a secondary milk or powder like soya. This part oat, part soya mixture will ultimately lessen both flavours so neither comes through too strongly (although it still doesn’t taste like cow milk). This will be lessened even more so when you add in your actual flavour. Consider which flavours have more impact or work well with the resultant taste profile, mint and coconut are good options, or a strong caramel or dark chocolate.
When it comes to using milk (which are basically plant solids processed with water into a fluid) vs. powders, we have seen many opt for powder versions from different sources (e.g. a mixture of pea, soy, oat or coconut), balancing these together to make their own type of milk.
Our top tips for vegan ice creams or should we avoid the cream and call it Plant based Gelato ?
1 – mix your milks – don’t just stick to one type of milk as your ice cream will ultimately take on that strong flavour.
2 – use deodorised coconut fat – it’s the most ethical way to introduce these key fats into your recipe.
3 – pasteurise your vegan milk mix – this will ensure a longer shelf life, as well as better structure and texture.
4 – we would recommend when promoting your plant-based product you advertise them as just that, ‘plant-based’ rather than ‘vegan’, want to know why? Get in touch with Antonelli to find out.
So, have we tempted you to incorporate vegan ice cream into your cabinet or review the way you are making it today? Feel free to contact Antonelli for guidance or flavour ideas!
See you next time for the latest scoop!