Letter “X” Marathon Recipe
Here we are, with the difficult alphabet ‘X’. I am posting an ice-cream recipe today with Xanthan Gum and also some additional information about the same. This is a vegan homemade ice-cream prepared with coconut milk, alphonso mango pulp and almond milk without Ice-cream maker. Xanthan Gum is used here to obtain the creamy texture. Half a teaspoon is more than enough for this ice-cream. For the alphabet X, I didn’t plan anything and thought of using the wildcard option and I was planning to post the kollu rasam recipe using the kollu rasam powder that I prepared. Out of over enthusiasm, I also joined in the other A-Z challenge and I wasn’t sure what to do for X? I wasn’t sure if they had any wildcard entries. I was thinking recipes from other cuisines. But then how it became Xanthan Gum? I always check the ingredients list whenever I do grocery and that’s when I came across this Xanthan Gum. Immediately, I thought I will do a non-recipe post with Xanthan Gum. When I started researching about it, I saw this vegan brownie ice cream recipe post. I finally got a recipe for X. I just followed the measurements in that recipe especially for xanthan gum. So here is my first ice-cream recipe :-)
Why Vegan Mango Ice Cream?
Here are a few reasons why I decided to make mangoes, coconut milk and almond milk ice cream:
I wanted to try vegan. The love for mangoes. Periyakulam is known for its mangoes. When you enter in to Periyakulam from Theni, you can see a welcome board saying “Welcome to Periyakulam – Mango City”. Periyakulam maavadu is pretty famous. I didn’t post any mango recipe so far in this BM, so thought of posting mango ice-cream. Its mango season now and summer is the best time for ice creams.
What Is Xanthan Gum?
Xanthan Gum… Sounds scary right? Actually it’s not. Xanthan gum is a sugar like compound (chemistry term, which means two or more chemical elements are chemically bonded together) that is prepared by fermenting sugar and a bacterium called Xanthomonas campestris. Now you know how xanthan gum got its name. Yes, from the bacteria and this bacteria causes black spots in veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. Can we live without bacteria? No way. We need these micro-organisms for all the fermentation process.
Popular Food Additive
Xanthan gum is one of the popular food additives. According to the wiki, one of the most remarkable properties of xanthan gum is its ability to produce a large increase in the viscosity of a liquid by adding a very small quantity of gum, on the order of one percent. Viscosity is the state of being thick or semi-solid consistency. That property makes it very popular and you can find this ingredient in salad dressings, sauces, and ice-creams. It is also getting popular in gluten-free foods. It adds that stickiness to the food. And it is used as an emulsifier or thickening agent. WebMD explains how xanthan gum is used in medicines. As the saying goes, too much of anything is good for nothing. It is a processed product and you can use it on a necessary basis at a minimum amount. The other facts about Xanthan Gum can be found here.
Now back to the post after this long write up :-) I went with store-bought coconut milk and mango pulp. I couldn’t find fresh Alphonso mangoes here.
Vegan Mango Ice Cream with Xanthan Gum Recipe
Equipment Used:
For the mixing it initially, I used my hand mixer, and also for the first stir/churn I went with my hand mixer and for the rest all I used a regular mixer blender.
Ingredients:
Coconut Milk – 1 can / 13.5 oz can Mango Pulp – 30 oz or 850 gms Xanthan Gum – ½ tsp heaped Almond Milk – ½ cup
Steps:
Mix the coconut milk, mango pulp, and almond milk, and using the hand mixer blend them well. Now add the Xanthan Gum and blend well.
Ice Cream Churning Process:
(This method and the time interval worked for me perfectly and I got a nice creamy texture. I did only 3 churns. If you have ice-cream machine follow the instruction and churn accordingly)
Setting the ice-cream:
After adding xanthan gum, cover it with aluminum foil (so as to prevent the freezer burn) and keep it in the freezer for 2 hours.
Churn 1:
After two hours, the ice cream mix will be semi-solid as in the above picture with small air bubbles on top. Now using the hand mixer, blend them well for about 5 minutes and break all those air pockets. There will be still some on top. But it will eventually go away in the next churning. Now cover it with aluminum foil and let it sit for 2 more hours. Here is the picture after churn 1.
Churn 2:
Remove the aluminum foil and using a flat spatula break the ice-cream. Blend them again in a mixer/blender. I divided the mixture into 4 parts and blended each portion individually for about 2 minutes. Transfer the blended ice-cream to a container with a lid.
Cover it and let it freeze again for up to 8 to 9 hours. Picture after churn 2.
Churn 3:
We need to follow the same steps as we did in churn 2. Break the ice-cream and work on small portions. Blend them well. By now, there should be no air pockets, and as you blend you can the creamy thick ice cream mixture.
Transfer the blended content to a container with a lid.
Cover and freeze again till they are set.
That’s it. Yummy and creamy ice cream is ready.
Notes:
You can use a blender or mixer jar for churn 1 and also for the initial set. If you feel the texture is not creamy enough, you can opt for 1 more churn, or instead of letting it sit for 8 hours, you can churn them twice at the interval of 4 hours. After the last churn, you can add nuts or chocolate chips before freezing them. Almond milk can be replaced with soy milk. The mango pulp I used was sweet enough, so I didn’t add any additional sugar. If required sugar can be added. If using mangoes, opt for ripe sweet mangoes. Do not use more than ¾ tsp of xanthan gum for this proportion.
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Have you made this recipe?
If you’ve made this vegan mango ice cream, please share your photos with me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter – I will be delighted to see your results!
📖 Recipe
