White Chocolate Zombie

While surfing the web the other day, I decided to look at vegan white chocolate items. I was looking for something that didn't have a lot of strange ingredients, preferably in bar form, and something that would melt easily. Oh, and if it didn't taste like wax, that would be pretty awesome too. Luckily, I found exactly that by Plamil Organics on veganessentials.com.

It has been easily 4 years since the last time I had eaten white chocolate, but I liked what I tasted. I bought three 3.5 oz bars, and stuck one in the freezer to break into chunks later. The other two I chopped up and threw into my heat safe bowl for melting.

To start the base for the ice cream I decided to use hemp milk.

I poured 4 cups of hemp milk into a sauce pan, and then added 3 tbsp. of dried peppermint I picked up at Penzey's Spices, which just happens to be super close to work. To that I added 1/2 cup of raw agave.

I brought the liquid up to a simmer, then poured it into a container to cool overnight. The next day I strained the the base into a measuring cup, and then poured it into my ice cream machine and turned it on for about 35 minutes. Once the ice cream was slightly thicker than soft serve, I pulled out the bucket and layered my pint containers with the white chocolate peppermint ice cream and the white chocolate chunks. I then let the ice cream "harden" in the freezer for about 3 hours before giving it a try.

I have to say it turned out quite tasty. My only complaint was the overpowering flavor of the hemp milk. I am sure it is delicious in other applications, but as a dairy alternative in ice cream, the taste is not a win in my book. However, after sitting overnight the peppermint really blossomed and evened the flavor out. Next time I will try almond milk or coconut milk. This is why we test things.