Yield: 1 quart

Wheeler del Torro’s The Vegan Scoop rules! His basic formula combined with my friend Shelley’s recommendation for banana-nut ice cream and my penchant for anything caramelized led to this concoction. As a child, I was “mad” for Brennan’s Restaurant’s Banana’s Foster on pre-vegan trips to New Orleans: bananas caramelized and flamed tableside and served over rich vanilla ice cream. Out of the fire and into the freezer comes this vegan-approved almost guilt-free pleasure with a bow to Sin City.

1-14.5 ounce can coconut milk, with 1/4 cup poured into a small cup or bowl
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
3/4 brown sugar
2-3 bananas, sliced about 3/4-1″ thick
1 1/4 cups plain soy creamer
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted macadamia nuts (if macdamia nuts would break the bank, your favorite nut will do nicely)

In a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup coconut milk and arrowroot powder until smooth. Set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and cook until dissolved. Lower heat just slightly if mixture is cooking too fast. Add banana slices and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 3-5 minutes or until bananas soften and begin to caramelize. remove from heat and mash right in the skillet with a potato masher. (If you use a non-stick skillet, remove bananas before mashing, or you will scratch the surface.) Place the remaining coconut milk, soy creamer, cinnamon stick and mashed bananas into a medium saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in coconut milk-arrowroot mixture until very smooth followed by the vanilla extract. Allow to cool to room temperature, whisk again if lumps remain, and then cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight until thoroughly chilled. Whisk to remove any remaining lumps and then freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. (I use a Cusinart electric ice cream maker.) When ice cream is almost frozen, pour in chopped nuts and continue freezing so that they are well distributed. Scrape ice cream into an airtight container and store in freezer.

Yield: approximately 1 quart

The aroma and appearance of Starbucks’ Caramel Macchiatos, those creamy cafe-caramel beverages to die for–but off-limits for vegans–inspired this delectable ice cream. Once again, I have based my creation on the never-fail formula in Wheeler del Torro’s The Vegan Scoop cookbook.

1 cup unsweetened soy milk, divided into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals (I use decaffeinated)
2 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
3/4 to 1 cup packed brown sugar
2 to 2 1/2 cups plain soy creamer
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup soy milk, arrowroot powder and coffee until smooth and coffee is dissolved. Set aside. Place vegan butter and brown sugar plus one tablespoon of the remaining soy milk into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Add remaining soy milk and the soy creamer and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in soy milk-arrowroot-coffee mixture until very smooth. Whisk in vanilla extract. Allow to cool to room temperature, whisk again if lumps remain, and then cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Whisk to remove any remaining lumps, and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. (I use a Cusinart electric ice cream maker.) Scrape into an airtight container and store in freezer.

Yield: approximately 1 quart

Wheeler del Torro, founder and owner of Wheeler’s Frozen Dessert Company in Boston, is a genius. If you love ice cream–and not just sorbet–are vegan, lactose intolerant, or just in search of a healthier alternative, and don’t want to spend a day’s pay on a pint of the stuff, his new book The Vegan Scoop is a must-have. Beautiful, hip, well-designed and well-written, this book contains just the right amount of information in addition to seductive color photos and 150 of his creative recipes. With many cookbooks, the preface is skipable. But you will want to savor this one in which del Torro recounts his delightful journey to frozen fame in a personal, but succinct, way.

The base for many, if not most, of Wheeler’s ice creams is a cup of soy or other vegan milk, 2 cups of soy creamer, 2 tablespoons of arrowroot (a natural starchy thickener) and 3/4 cup of sugar. From there, go anywhere using his incredibly diverse recipes or ones of your own devise. You will scarcely believe how smooth and creamy the end results will be because the arrowroot thickens the base and, more importantly, reduces the formation of ice crystals.

My concoction, inspired by Wheeler, emerged from my Cuisinart electric ice cream maker almost identical to a firm soft serve. Perfection! Even better, a day later, it had not iced up, but remained silky smooth. I feel as though I’ve found the Holy Grail.

1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 tablespoons arrow root powder
1 1/2 cups coconut milk, shaken well (you can add a whole 13.5 ounce can–about 1 2/3 cups–I just didn’t have a full can)
1 1/4 cups soy creamer
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon, broken in half (optional, but it imparts a subtle layer of flavor)
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup soy milk with arrowroot powder until smooth. Set aside. Pour next three ingredients into a small-medium saucepan, stir to combine, and add optional cinnamon stick halves. With a sharp paring knife, slit the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the tip of the knife scrape out seeds into the milk mixture. Place over medium heat and, bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in soy milk-arrowroot mixture until very smooth. Add vanilla extract. Allow to cool to room temperature, whisk again if lumps remain, and then cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Remove cinnamon stick halves, whisk to remove any remaining lumps, and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Scrape into an airtight container and store in freezer.