It's no secret that pineapple with ice cream makes a delicious and refreshing treat but what happens when we combine the two into one dessert, with a dash of inspiration from your favorite cocktail?
This vegan ice cream starts with a homemade pineapple curd base which is whisked with thick coconut milk and vegan condensed milk before being churned into creamy perfection.
Add a little crunch with some toasted coconut flakes and you have the most delicious tropical dairy-free ice cream!
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📖 Recipe Overview
- Perfectly Balanced Flavors - This oat and coconut-based ice cream has just the right amount of sweetness, creaminess, and acidity.
- Creamy Texture - Made with a thick oat milk and coconut milk base combined with pineapple curd. Plus, for added crunch, coconut chips are gently toasted and tossed into the ice cream towards the end of churning. They break up into little chunks which give this fruity ice cream a bit of bite!
- Allergy-Friendly - Made without dairy, eggs, or nuts, it can also be made gluten-free with GF oat milk and cornstarch.
If you love pineapple dessert recipes be sure to try my Piña Colada Popsicles and Pineapple Coconut Tart next!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
As promised, this vegan coconut ice cream comes together with less than 10 ingredients. Here's what to grab:
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh Pineapple - Unlike a lot of recipes out there this one uses fresh pineapple as opposed to canned crushed pineapple or pineapple juice. The taste of fresh is far superior but you do have to make sure that the pineapple is super ripe and sweet or else the flavor will be impacted.
- Coconut Milk - It needs to be full-fat coconut milk from a can, reduced fat or light coconut milk will not work. You can also use coconut cream
- Vegan Condensed Milk - This is often used to make no-churn ice cream as it helps prevent it from freezing solid. Even though this recipe does involve an ice cream maker, sweetened condensed coconut milk is used as the sweetener to compensate for the high fruit content - which can otherwise lead to any icy rock solid ice cream!
- White Rum - While you can use Malibu coconut rum or dark rum for this recipe, I like to stick to Bacardi white rum for a clean flavor that doesn't overpower. Please note, alcohol isn't just used for taste here. Alcohol lowers the freezing point of ice cream which helps with texture and prevents ice crystals from forming.
- Sea Salt - This enhances the pineapple flavor and helps balance the sweetness - please don't be tempted to skip it!
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🥣 How To Make Pina Colada Ice Cream
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
While there are a few steps in making this coconut milk ice cream, it only takes about 15 minutes of hands-on prep. The rest is just waiting time - here's how it's done:
Step 1: Add the pineapple, cornstarch, oat milk, condensed coconut milk, and salt to a high-speed blender or food processor.
Step 2: Blend the ingredients for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy. There should be no visible chunks of pineapple.
Step 3: Cook the pineapple puree mixture over low to medium heat for a few minutes while whisking. Essentially, we're making pineapple custard here. Once the curd is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon or spatula, remove it from the heat.
Step 4: Pass the pineapple mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. You'll need to give it a hand here by pushing the mixture through with a spatula as it will be relatively thick.
Step 5: Next, stir in the rum and fresh lime juice. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. You can speed this up by using an ice bath - just be sure no liquids get into the mix.
Step 6: Whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy. For ease, you can use a stand mixer or electric whisk here. But that is by no means necessary, a regular whisk will do!
Step 7: Whisk the cooled pineapple mixture into the coconut cream until combined. Then transfer it to the frozen bowl of your ice cream maker.
Step 8: Churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions (usually this can be 25-40 minutes). During the last 5 minutes of churning. add the toasted coconut to the machine.
Step 9: The ice cream is ready when it is super thick and sticks to the arm of the machine. Transfer it to a loaf pan or sealable container.
Step 10: Smooth out the top of the ice cream and if desired, add some more toasted coconut or desiccated coconut (shredded coconut). Freeze for 3-4 hours until solid or for a Ninja creami/soft serve consistency you can serve it straight from the machine.
🍍 Variations
I absolutely love this coconut pineapple ice cream as written but there is plenty of room for you to add your own twist to it!
- Pineapple Ice Cream without Coconut: If you're not a fan of coconut, you can still make this pineapple ice cream without dairy! Use oat whipping cream and condensed oat milk instead. I love using Nature's Charm.
- Skip the Booze: To make this pina colada ice cream without alcohol, you can use 1-2 teaspoons of rum extract instead. In this case, I do recommend adding a tablespoon of tapioca syrup, glucose syrup, or corn syrup. This will help prevent the ice cream from freezing too hard.
- Pineapple Chunks: If desired, add these right before serving. Otherwise, the pineapple will freeze into icy solid blocks in the freezer and inhibit the perfect scoop. You could also try soaking pineapple chunks in some more rum before adding them to help them freeze softer - I haven't tried this but it works for raisins!
📝 Recipe Tips
Freeze your ice cream bowl in advance. You'll want to leave it in there for a minimum of 12 hours (24 if possible) or it won't work effectively. I personally just store the bowl in a plastic bag in the freezer so it's always ready for action! 😏
Chill your cans of coconut milk overnight. This will force the thick cream to rise to the top and separate from the watery liquid. For convenience, I always keep a few cans stored in the fridge so that I have them to hand when needed.
Don't throw out the coconut water from the cans of coconut milk! That separated coconut juice makes a wonderful addition to smoothies, stir-fries, and soups. Cover and refrigerate, and add it to your favorite meals within a couple of days.
Alternate your whisk and spatula. When making the pineapple base for the ice cream, it's best to constantly whisk and stir with the spatula. Due to the cornstarch, it will thicken quite quickly, so the constant movement helps pull up the sauce from the bottom of the pan and prevents it from burning.
Sift the ice cream. Pineapple is naturally very fibrous, which hey fiber is great - but not so great for mouthfeel when eating ie cream! Instead of sifting the pineapple straight after blending, here we sift the entire pineapple custard mixture after it is cooked, as this creates the smoothest base and helps get as much flavor as possible out of your pineapple.
💬 FAQs
Coconut milk or coconut cream is often used as the base for vegan ice cream recipes due to its perfect creamy texture. It has a high-fat content which helps mimic the properties of dairy cream.
Yes, you can use pineapple canned in juice if you don't have access to good fresh produce. Strain off the juice and measure the chunks of fruit to match the original recipe.
You can add the leftover pineapple juice to smoothies or just drink it as is!
Any ice cream maker you have will do but my favorite one that I use is the Cuisinart Ice Cream Deluxe.
First and foremost, for best results, I recommend using a machine for this recipe. That's mainly due to the high fruit content.
However, if you want to attempt it without one here's what I would do.
Freeze it in a large bowl for an hour or as it begins to freeze around the edges, then whisk with an electric whisk or transfer it back into the blender to blend down any ice crystals before pouring it back into the loaf pan and into the freezer. Continue to check the ice cream every 30-45 minutes, blending again if needed.
Store it in an airtight container or loaf pan sealed with plastic wrap in the freezer. Generally, homemade ice cream is best served within 2-3 weeks.
I also recommend taking it out of the freezer to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before diving in for the perfect scoops!
🥥 More Recipes For Coconut Ice Cream
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📖 Recipe
Pina Colada Ice Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 450 g (2 ¾ cups) ripe fresh pineapple chopped, *see note 1
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) oat milk or soy milk
- 200 g (⅔ cup) vegan condensed milk
- 45 g (⅓ cup) cornstarch (cornflour)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons white rum *see note 2
- 1 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
- 400 g (1 ⅔ cups) chilled full-fat canned coconut milk or coconut cream, *see note 3
- 50 g (¼ cup) coconut chips optional
Instructions
- Preparation: Freeze your ice cream maker bowl at least 12-24 hours prior to making the recipe. Also, make sure you chill the cans of coconut milk at least 12 hours ahead.
- Blend: Add the pineapple, oat milk, condensed coconut milk, cornstarch, and salt to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend the ingredients for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy, and there are no visible chunks of pineapple.
- Cook: Transfer the pineapple puree to a saucepan and cook over low to medium heat for a few minutes while whisking. Alternate between using a whisk and spatula to prevent the mixture from burning to the bottom of the pan. Once the curd is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon or spatula, remove it from the heat.
- Sift and flavor: Pass the pineapple mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Push the mixture through with a spatula as it will be relatively thick.Next, stir in the rum and fresh lime juice. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature - you can speed this up by using an ice bath - just be sure no liquids get into the mix.
- Toast the coconut: Meanwhile, gently toast the coconut flakes in a skillet. Tossing them constantly until lightly browned.
- Whisk: Whisk the coconut cream until light and fluffy. For ease, you can use a stand mixer or electric whisk, but a regular whisk will do!Whisk the cooled pineapple mixture into the coconut cream until combined.
- Churn: Transfer it to the frozen bowl of your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions (usually this can be 25-40 minutes). During the last 5 minutes of churning, add the toasted coconut to the machine.The ice cream is ready when it is super thick and sticks to the arm of the machine. Transfer it to a loaf pan or sealable container.
- Freeze: Smooth out the top of the ice cream and if desired, add some more toasted coconut or desiccated coconut (shredded coconut). Freeze for 3-4 hours until solid or for soft serve consistency you can serve it straight from the machine.
- Storage: Store it in an airtight container or loaf pan sealed with plastic wrap in the freezer. It is best served within 2-3 weeks. I also recommend taking it out of the freezer to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before diving in for the perfect scoops!
Notes
- Pineapple: You can use pineapple canned in juice if you don't have access to good fresh produce. Strain off the juice and measure the chunks of fruit.
- Rum: You can use 1-2 teaspoons of rum extract instead. In this case - I do recommend adding a tablespoon of tapioca syrup, glucose syrup, or corn syrup to help prevent the ice cream from freezing too hard.
- Chilled coconut milk: Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight, then only use the thick cream from the top of the cans. You may need more than 1x 400ml can depending on the brand of coconut milk, as they all yield different ratios of cream.
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*This recipe was originally published in April 2020. The recipe has since been improved and updated to minimize the ingredients used and simplify the instructions.
