I have discovered a new ice cream shop near my home called Cowabunga Creamery that sells non-dairy ice creams made with soy or coconut milk. I have never seen the coconut milk option in an ice cream store so as you can imagine I HAD to try it.
Above is the Irish Coffee Chocolate in a mini cup which was $2 and the size of a small scoop. They also had an Orangsicle type flavor. The Irish Coffee was very dee-lish for something that is non-dairy. Now, I've tried many non-dairy ice creams because of the Type II cow milk allergy thing, and it's not often I go "nice!" at first bite, but with this one I did.
The coconut taste was not strong at all but it did fight a bit with the coffee taste. It would kind of be like putting a few drops of coconut milk into your Starbucks. The coconut wouldn't take over but you'd know it's there and depending on your mood you might like it or not. It's like me with curry tastes. I have to be in the mood or mind set for curry because the flavor can be a bit much sometimes.
Coconut flesh and milk is used in many Raw food ice cream recipes which I've always wanted to try but have not yet found a place that makes it. If you know of any places in the SF Bay Area, please do share! I'm too lazy to make it myself mainly because you have to work with fresh coconuts in shell, and that requires hammers and tools to crack.
I'm not sure if the Cowabunga version was made under Raw standards. But even if it wasn't, it was a nice preview of what a coconut milk based ice cream can taste like. It's always worth a try!
