Coconut Cream Recommendation

I have many recipes which reference coconut cream as an ingredient. I prefer a coconut cream which has no ingredients beyond coconut and maybe water. Sometimes coconut creams add stabilizers so that the cream will stay uniform, but those stabilizers sometimes trigger inflammation (guar gum is an instant "no" for me as it makes my mouth feel a little fuzzy).

Currently, my preferred cream is Trader Joe's Coconut Cream (I can't find it on Trader Joe's website). There are complaints about consistency across cans (i.e. different proportions of coconut to water than others), but I typically use multiple cans at a time and blending them together helps reduce those consistency issues for me.

Trader Joe's inventory sometimes run out, so when they are stocked I buy several so that I have plenty in my pantry.

Coconut cream without a stabilizer tends to separate so that you have a watery portion of the can and a solid portion (predominantly coconut oil). To get a smooth cream, I recommend blending the contents of the container(s) for a couple of minutes at medium speed. The cream will look chunky for a while and will get smoother as you blend for longer. Initially, it will look like dairy cream which has broken, i.e. clumpy. But unlike cream which has broken, continuing to blend coconut cream will eventually fix the texture (continuing to whip or blend cream will just make butter). When the cream is no longer chunky or grainy in appearance, it is smooth and you can stop blending. I find that getting to this texture usually takes about 90 seconds at about half speed in my Blendtec.

In the past, I have also recommended Aroy D coconut cream. This brand has multiple different versions with different stabilizers. The one without stabilizers is not always available and is difficult to distinguish from those with stabilizers without reading the fine print. Amazon might not be clear on which you will get. You can often find these at your local Asian food store--and typically at a better price than Amazon--so be sure to read the ingredients when selecting them.

Costco and other stores carry other brands of coconut cream. If you are fine with the included stabilizers,  then those are probably great choices for you.

Variations on a Theme: Pineapple

When serving ice cream, I love planning out the flight of flavors we serve up. One you might try is variations on theme of pineapple.

Pineapple Juice Sorbet

I made some pineapple and cream ice cream the other day and chose to leave out the juice from the cooked pineapple. Because I make several pints of this ice cream at once (I love it so much), I had about 2 cups of pineapple juice left over. I could drink it, but then I thought I might be able to make a sorbet from the juice. Normally I make pineapple sorbet using the juice and meat of a pineapple, but maybe the juice would be nice, too.

Chocolate Banana Sorbet

This recipe is an extension of my prior Banana Sorbet. It has just one more ingredient, and is still super easy.

Periodically, I over-buy bananas, or I find that they ripen too quickly. This is a great way to use the bananas. And because I love the combination of chocolate and bananas, this flavor combination makes sense and works well.

Although, on my diet, I am not supposed to eat chocolate because it is derived from a bean, what I have found is that pure cocoa does not bother my digestion unless I consume it in large quantities. The powder form gives plenty of chocolate flavor with a minimal amount of actual cocoa (there is a lot of air in the powder) and so it is less impactful. I also suspect that most of what my body responds to in chocolate bars is the other ingredients such as the soy/sunflower lecithin.

Banana Sorbet

This is a super-easy sorbet for 2 reasons. First, it has only one ingredient: bananas. Second, unlike most fruits, bananas can be used in a sorbet without cooking them.

Periodically, I over-buy bananas, or I find that they ripen too quickly. This is a great way to use the bananas.

Pineapple and Cream Ice Cream

Although I love my pineapple sorbet, sometimes I want something creamier and this ice cream delivers.

Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream

This is similar to the Vegan Macerated Strawberry Ice Cream recipe, but with blueberries, instead.

This recipe does not require the blueberries to be strained because the seeds are so small.

Although I love the flavor and texture of this ice cream, my digestion doesn't. This might be because of the blueberries, like I used to be sensitive to strawberries. On the other hand, it might be because the seeds are still in the mixture. I need to experiment more to know for sure.