Soy custard ice cream

[friend_of_tofu]

OK, I've just got a loan of an ice cream maker from a friend and I've looked through the archives and found some amazing recipes, but I have a question about recipes using commercial 'vegan' ingredients. My local supermarket sells boxes of soy custard which are quite reasonably priced (cheaper by quantity than tofu, certainly!) and I'd like to know

Comments

[vgnwtch]

I don't know about other areas of the US, but I lived in NJ for 12 years, and never saw our kind of custard in the shops. I have friends from NJ, NY, PA, KY, CT, MA, MO, OK, and TN, and none of them showed any more interest in British custard than the other people around me - which was pretty much zero. Over there, they tend to say "custard" to mean the kind of set custard desserts we call custard tarts.

[friend_of_tofu]

I suspected it was something like this. I asked my very foodie American friend but the concept of soy custard messes with her head somewhat. She was most supportive of the idea of soy ice cream with tofu, though.

[sugar_lumps]

i've never had soy custard but i've made a lot of soy ice cream, and the pre-chilled batter should be a little thinner than a smoothie, so perhaps the curstard could work if you thinned it out somewhat? try blending it with some soy milk or alternative to single cream and see if it blends evenly. as far as the sweetness goes, your batter should be just a bit sweeter than you want your ice cream to be. if the custard tastes good on its own, some extra liquid, fine or liquid sweetener and vanilla may be enough.

[friend_of_tofu]

I was thinking of maybe using rice milk as it's often so sweet, but I wasn't sure if the 2 would mix well. Not sure what 'liquid sweetener' is though.

[sugar_lumps]

i meant something like maple, agave or corn syrup, not artificial or anything gross like that :)

[friend_of_tofu]

Ah I see. So a sticky syrup-type thing. If I was sing a sweetened milk, I'm not sure I'd need it - but I do have a very sweet tooth.

[thinkbettersick]

you can always use coconut milk! It is cheap and creamy and not as strongly flavored as you would imagine.

[friend_of_tofu]

Thanks, I love coconut milk and use it all the time for things. I've made a good ice cream with it before, so I shall probably try that again.

[diarytypething]

I've never made vegan ice-cream, but I've made kinds with lots of animal products, and usually the first stage is making some kind of custard-like substance with eggs and sugar (I had always thought that custard was something you made from powder, and was a little surprised to find out that there's another way). Maybe instead of looking for vegan recipes, it would make more sense to look up a couple of omni recipes and see how you can adapt them.

[friend_of_tofu]

That was my thought, because I've made custard-based milky ice creams before. I just wasn't sure if I could substitute boxed soy custard for fresh-made milky custard. The instruction book is not a lot of use in this regard, tho it does have plenty of recipes.