dark chocolate ice cream

This vegan dark chocolate ice cream recipe is intensely chocolatey, velvety smooth, and creamy. Vegan indulgence at its finest! You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better vegan chocolate ice cream recipe than this – there are plenty of people who’ll vouch for it! Made with just five ingredients, this vegan dark chocolate ice cream is quick and easy to make. All you need is dark chocolate, raw organic cacao powder, vegan sugar, soya milk, and almond milk.

Many vegan ice cream recipes use coconut milk as a base, which is fine but for three things. Firstly, it does taste of coconut unless you are using really strong flavours. Secondly, ice particles tend to form when coconut milk is frozen. Thirdly, coconut milk isn’t quite creamy enough to replicate dairy cream and give us that rich and creamy, ice-free result that we all desire. I love coconut, but I don’t want to be eating chocolate ice cream or coffee ice cream that tastes of coconut if you know what I mean.

About this recipe

I made this creamy, vegan dark chocolate ice cream recipe with the best quality dark chocolate I could get my hands on. Raw organic cacao powder gives this ice cream the characteristic bitter taste of dark chocolate. Sugar balances out the bitterness and helps reduce the possibility of ice particles forming. The plant-based milk, when warmed, melts the dark chocolate easily and serves to thin the mixture down to the perfect consistency for ice cream making.

My ice cream and sorbet-making journey began when my kids got me a HKoenig hf320 ice cream maker for Christmas a few years ago. It was such a great present. I got my first recipes from the Carpigiani website. Carpigiani is the number-one manufacturer of ice cream machines for Italian gelaterie (ice cream parlours). They weren’t vegan, of course, and I ended up making numerous changes in order to make them as healthy as possible without compromising on taste in any way. The recipe I’m sharing with you today was one of the most difficult to veganise, but I’m so happy with the end result!

How to make vegan dark chocolate ice cream

If you have an ice cream maker, you can expect perfect results from this vegan dark chocolate ice cream recipe. If you don’t have one, don’t worry – you can still make it. It’ll just take a little longer, and you’ll need to stir the ice cream at regular intervals until it is frozen. Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to do that.

Ingredients

In the recipe card below, you’ll find the exact quantities you’ll need of each ingredient.

Vegan dark chocolate – Use the best quality vegan dark chocolate you can find. I use Lindt Excellence 78% or 85% cacao.

Cacao powder – Choose raw organic cacao powder if possible. Not only does it make great chocolate ice cream, it has numerous health benefits too. Remember that cocoa powder and cacao powder are not the same thing. Read all about the nutritional content of raw organic cacao powder here.

Plant-based milk – Use your favourite type of vegan milk. I prefer a mixture of almond milk and soya milk for making ice cream. Cashew milk is also fine, as is oat milk or rice milk. I used V-Love soy milk from the Migros and Valdibella latte di mandorla (almond milk), which is made with just two ingredients – water and organic almonds from Sicily. Both are unsweetened. I like using a mixture of the two because that way I can’t detect the taste of either in the ice cream.

Sugar – I use Aarberg finely ground white sugar, which is certified vegan. You can buy it at the Migros if you live in Switzerland.

You could also use unrefined cane sugar, which is almost always vegan. Use finely ground sugar if possible. Bear in mind, though, that white sugar is often not vegan because many brands process it using bone char. If in doubt, do your own research or buy a brand that is actually labelled vegan.

Method

• Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place them in a saucepan with the plant-based milk. Heat up a small amount of the milk – just enough to melt the chocolate.
• Put all the ingredients into a blender beaker and blend until smooth.
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the basket of an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  
• Once the ice cream is ready, you can either indulge immediately or freeze it in a suitable container for later.

How to make vegan dark chocolate ice cream without an ice cream maker

Don’t be discouraged – you will get good results without an ice cream maker. This vegan dark chocolate ice cream recipe makes the job easy because it’s rich and creamy, thanks to the dark chocolate, and it doesn’t tend to form ice particles. Just follow the steps below, and it’ll turn out perfect.

• Pour the ice cream mixture into a container suitable for freezing. It should be large enough for you to be able to comfortably stir the mixture with a whisk or spoon. Put the lid on and place in the freezer for 90 minutes.
• Remove from the freezer and stir the mixture, scraping the sides as well.
• Return the container to the freezer for 45 minutes.
• Remove from the freezer and stir/whip the mixture again, scraping the sides of the container well. If you use a whisk, you’ll need a sturdy one as it begins to freeze. Return the mixture to the freezer as quickly as possible.
• Repeat at 30-minute intervals. Make sure you scrape the edges well each time and break up any frozen chunks.
• After 2 – 3 hours, it should begin thickening to a soft-serve consistency. At this stage, you can decide whether to serve it or freeze it for longer and scoop it out when it’s firm (see next paragraph)

How to serve your vegan dark chocolate ice cream

Ice cream makers are designed to make a semi-frozen ice cream which is perfect if consumed immediately. When it comes out of the ice cream maker, it is a bit like soft ice in the UK or freshly made Italian gelato. It does tend to melt very quickly, though. So what I do is put it in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.

This vegan dark chocolate ice cream is perfect on its own, but you could also serve it with another ice cream flavour, like vanilla. For an extravagant touch, you could pour red berry or cherry sauce over it, especially if paired with vanilla ice cream – truly delicious!

How to store your ice cream

You can store your vegan dark chocolate ice cream in the freezer, where it will keep for a couple of months. Bear in mind, though, that the longer it stays in the freezer the harder it will become. You may need to let it thaw a bit at room temperature to be able to scoop it out. Extended freezing may cause some ice particles to form, as they do in all foodstuffs if kept in the freezer for a long time.

I think you’ll love the smooth and creamy texture and intensely chocolatey flavour of this vegan dark chocolate ice cream! If you do, let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!

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