By April Swiger, Contributing Writer
Creamy coconut milk flavored with spicy cinnamon, maple syrup, sautéed apples in butter, topped with Kimi’s easy peasy caramel sauce. This is the perfect ice cream to try as summer gives way to fall. Local apples made their first appearance at our natural food store a couple weeks ago and I’ve been eager to start transitioning my light summer cooking to the more hearty flavors of autumn.
Apple orchards are bountiful in New England and, in season, local organic apples are incredibly affordable. The benefits of eating local produce, and supporting the families that grow it, is a priority for us. We don’t buy everything local and organic, but when we are able to it’s so worth it. Not only is local produce more nutritious, it’s highly sustainable, and some of the most delicious food available to us. Every September I’m sad to say goodbye to strawberries and tomatoes, but I’ll be embracing the local apples, squash and potatoes with open arms.
My husband and I recently welcomed an almost three year old little boy into our family from the foster care system. I’ve been having so much fun teaching him about different kinds of fruits and vegetables. He’ll try anything once, which has been such a pleasant surprise for me. I can’t wait to take him apple picking this fall and make one of his favorite foods – applesauce! For days, he had been looking forward to trying this ice cream, and with the speed it left his bowl and entered his little belly, I can confidently say it’s “toddler approved” 🙂
I love sweetening my ice cream recipes with raw honey or maple syrup. Maple syrup is packed with important antioxidant minerals like manganese and zinc, which helps boost the immune system. It’s a fantastic alternative to refined sugar and corn syrup. Be sure that your maple syrup is 100% pure, as most store bought syrups are mixed with corn syrup and other highly processed sweeteners.
I’m sad to say that I had never tried Kimi’s salted caramel sauce recipe until a few days ago. It’s so simple to make (Really! You don’t need to be an experienced candy maker for this one), and a decadent addition to this autumn flavored ice cream. My spoon has dipped into the jar more times than I can count since making it. Don’t skip this part!
Earlier this summer we invested in a long-awaited ice cream maker, which is necessary for this recipe. We have used it many times so far, and I’m confident it’s never going to collect dust with some of my other unused appliances. Homemade ice cream is just so good! We have this 2-quart ice cream maker, but I know Kimi and many others
love this smaller version as well.
Other ice cream recipes:
- Peach and Honey Ice Cream
- Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
- Chai Coconut Milk Ice Cream
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Simple Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
- APPLES:
- 2 small to medium sized apples, peeled and cubed (any kind will do, but I used local Jonagold)
- 4 Tbls butter (or substitute coconut oil to make it dairy free)
- 2 Tbls coconut sugar (maple syrup or honey works too)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ICE CREAM:
- 2 cans of full fat coconut milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbls ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- CARAMEL SAUCE:
- http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2013/12/easy-peasy-caramel-sauce-dairycane-sugarcorn-syrup-free.html
- Peel and cube the apples.
- Add the butter (or coconut oil for dairy free) to a heavy bottomed pan and allow it to melt, on medium heat, until foamy. Toss in the apple pieces, coconut sugar, cinnamon and salt, making sure to coat everything evenly. Sauté until the apples are tender.
- While the apples are cooking, put all the ice cream ingredients into a bowl, or a half gallon mason jar. I love using a hand blender to mix everything together, but a whisk works fine too.
- Place the ice cream mixture and the cooked apples, separately, into the refrigerator for about two hours. It's important that the ingredients are cold upon entering the ice cream maker.
- While you wait for everything to chill, prepare Kimi's salted caramel sauce (and try not to eat it all before the ice cream is made!).
- After everything is chilled, follow your ice cream makers instructions for making the ice cream. I typically blend the ice cream mixture for about 25-30 minutes, and then add the cooked apples for a final 5 minutes.
- Top with a generous drizzle of the caramel sauce.
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This looks amazing! I love the idea of apple ice cream and would have never thought of it.
Love this idea! Thanks for the dairy free options!
Would it be possible to make this without an ice cream machine as we don’t have one but I would love to make this icecream!
Hi Nicola – I’ve never tried, but I know there are ways to do it. Let me know if you give it a shot and how it comes out!