What is frozen custard?
Simply put, frozen custard contains more eggs than regular ice cream, giving it a more custard-like flavor. While frozen custard shops are common on the East Coast of the United States, they are practically non-existent on the West Coast where I grew up.
I first had frozen custard on a trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey when I was 18. My mom and I were both enamored of this new discovery and tried as many flavors as we could find during our week-long stay there.
The closest I had ever had to it was Frech vanilla ice cream, which has more of a custardy flavor, but I was surprised that you could pretty much do it with any flavor. I love making custard with coconut milk (find my recipe here), but I’ve never tried making ice cream that way.
How do you make dairy-free frozen custard?
While some ice cream recipes call for raw eggs, I prefer to have mine cooked. Essentially with this frozen custard we are making a custard base and then freezing it instead of baking. The eggs are whisked and cooked and then tempered with the coconut milk before being cooled for churning.
How do you make frozen custard in a Ninja Creami?
While you can churn this in a traditional ice cream maker, this recipe fits the Ninja Creami pint jar. The Creami has several settings for different types of frozen desserts. For this recipe I used the Gelato setting, but the LIte Ice Cream setting would also work. With the Creami, if you are not using regular sugar in a milk, yogurt, or alternative-based frozen dessert, the Lite Ice Cream setting is used rather than the regular ice cream setting to ensure it churns it to the proper texture.
When using a Ninja Creami, the frozen dessert base is mixed the day before and then frozen for 24 hours before churning (or “Creamifying” as Ninja refers to it).
What do you need to make Dairy-free Butter Pecan Frozen Custard?
- Coconut milk
- Pecans
- Honey
- Grass-fed unsalted butter
- Pure vanilla extract
- Eggs
Butter Pecan Frozen Yogurt – Dairy-free
Butter Pecan frozen custard – instructions for Ninja Creami (other ice cream makers can be used)
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp honey
- ½ tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 can cups full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp chopped pecans
Instructions
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Whisk egg yolks until they lighten in color
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Pour whisked eggs into saucepan
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Add honey
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Heat over medium low heat, whisking constantly until honey is melted and mixed with the egg yolks
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Remove from heat
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Add butter and stir until melted (place pan over low heat if butter doesn't melt quickly)
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Stir in honey
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Shake can of coconut milk (if using canned), open and measure 1 ⅓ cups
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Pour two tablespoons of coconut milk into the eggs mixture and whisk until combined, repeat with two more tablespoons, and then add the rest of the coconut milk and whisk until completely combined
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Cool completely
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Lightly toast pecans in frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes or in air fryer at 380F° for one minute (keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn)
Regular Ice Cream Maker
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If using regular ice cream maker, follow manufacturer instructions for churning
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Stir in toasted pecans as soon as it's finished churning while frozen custard is still soft
Ninja Creami Instructions
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Pour cooled mixture into Ninja Creami pint jar
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Cover with lid and freeze for 24 hours
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Use the gelato setting on the Ninja Creami
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If crumbly re-spin once or twice – you can make a hole in the middle and add a tablespoon of coconut milk to make it creamier, but I was able to just re-spin as is
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Make a hole in the middle of the frozen custard and pour in toasted pecans
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Use the mix-in option
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Store in freezer
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If frozen custard hardens, leave on counter 10 – 15 minutes to soften before serving, you can also re-spin if frozen custard is still level
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