So far so good.

That’s how I would sum up my experience with the Paleo Challenge: Sprint Series thus far. My unhealthy addiction to Splenda has officially been cracked and my partner and I haven’t lost a single point yet- shout out Wolf Pack! So far, there’s only been one glitch in my progress- Marc’s constant hampering about his “sweet tooth.”

Ay, yi, yi. . .

Thankfully, Coach Melissa over the Beastside had my back when she printed me an extra copy of a recipe she was planning to try out. “Paleo Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream- from Paleo Diet Lifestyle.” My immediate response, “Aw, but I don’t have an ice cream maker…”

Little did I know, neither does Melissa. She pointed me to a little caveat in the recipe, though, which substitutes the churning & chilling effect on an ice cream maker with good old fashioned elbow grease- the substitution reads “Put in a baking dish in the freezer and stir vigorously every 30 minutes for about 2-3 hours until its set.” Ok, I can do that.

If you’re up for a challenge I highly suggest this recipe. If you have an ice cream maker, I suggest it even further. After Melissa passed the note along, Marc and I found ourselves at Big Lots on the hunt for the some gems to add our upcoming Kids Corral. While there, Marc spotted a sweet little ice cream maker for only 25 bucks! I’ve seen them mostly in the much more expensive range so I figured, “Hmm, what the hell.” But my response should have been more like, “Hmm, What the scoop of freakin’ delicious!”

Purchase Regret Factor – zero! This recipe had just the right amount of creaminess and a touch of sweet to end of the day. Marc’s analysis, “This is worth the hassle of making it when going strict paleo. Oh, and tell them I love it.” Thanks Marc haha!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk FULL FAT- very important, will not work with light coconut milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of chopped or pureed berries
• fresh berries (topping)

Recipe:

1. If you have a double boiler, now is the time to bust that baby out (not you Jen!:) Assuming you don’t have a double boiler though, we’ll create a makeshift version at home. Start by boiling about 1/2 a pot of water. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium. Place a strainer on top of the bowl and insert a heat proof bowl as pictured below.

2. Add the coconut milk and vanilla to the bowl and stir regularly as the coconut milk begins to melt. Continue to cook until HOT, but make sure it doesn’t start to boil. Once hot, proceed to step 3.

3. Whisk the eggs of yolks in a separate bowl.

4. (Marc had to help me with this part- so if someone else can lend a whisking while you slowly incorporate the mixture ask for help!) Add one ladleful of the now hot coconut milk to the eggs while whisking quite vigorously. What you’re doing is tempering the eggs and slowly bringing the temperature up without cooking the eggs and risking that they scramble. Add two or three other ladlefuls of the coconut milk mixture and incorporate them to the eggs while whisking continuously.

5. Take the tempered eggs and add them to the bowl where the rest of the coconut milk is on the double boiler. Continue to whisk vigorously for 2-3 more minutes.
Continue to mix until the coconut milk begins to get creamy- on the edge of custard like but not quite as thick.

6. Once the custard-like mixture is ready, remove from the heat source and let it cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

7. After the first 30 minutes of cooling,  mix in the chopped or pureed berries until everything is blended together smoothly and evenly. Return to the fridge for another 30 minutes.
8. Put the mixture  in your ice cream maker and follow its instructions or put in a baking dish in the freezer and stir vigorously every 30 minutes for about 2 to 3 hours until it’s set.

9. Take your ice cream out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before enjoying so it softens a bit. Serve with added coconut milk, berries, mint sprigs, coconut flakes or any other flavoring you might like. Here’s what mine looked like after the ice cream maker.