Purple Sweet Potato & Tahini Ice Cream

I don't often buy purple sweet potatoes, but when I do... I make ice cream! :)

Actually, I very, very rarely buy purple sweet potatoes, since they are hardly ever available where I live. But when I see them, I buy as many as I can carry home... And when you buy so many, dessert purple sweet potatoes are inevitable ;)

Purple sweet potato ice cream (and with tahini too) might sound a little wild if you're unfamiliar with purple sweet potato desserts, but it's actually a thing -- especially in some varieties of Asian cuisine. Traveling in Asia I remember so many moments of being surrounded by lush beautiful ube desserts, and ice creams galore, all of which left an impression and made me curious. It's also something that I've long wanted to try out after seeing so many delicious recipes featuring it.

When I finally had the opportunity to play around with purple sweet potatoes in my kitchen, ice cream was the first sweet thing I tried. And it's by far my favorite dessert use of this veggie to date. And one of my favorite things about this treat, of course, is the gorgeous deep lilac color of this ice cream. So, so pretty.

I added tahini to the mix and I absolutely love this flavor combo. It brought out the magic of this ice cream :) Especially when you drizzle some melted dark chocolate on it -- delicious!

Purple Sweet Potato & Tahini Ice Cream

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★★★★★ 4.5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 4-5 servings
• Category: Ice Cream
• Method: No Churn
• Cuisine: Dessert

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Description

A delicious no-churn vegan ice cream made with purple sweet potatoes and tahini.

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Ingredients

Ice Cream:

• 1 ½ lbs purple sweet potatoes, baked*
• 1 ⅓ cups coconut cream (from canned full-fat milk)**
• 1 cup coconut water***
• ¾ cup maple syrup
• 3 tbsp hulled tahini
• 1 ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp raw ground vanilla bean (or a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract)

Optional Topping:

• melted dark chocolate for drizzling or this DIY magic shell recipe.

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Instructions

1. Blend all ice cream ingredients into a smooth consistency in a power blender (if using a Vitamix, use the tamper to help the mixture mix thoroughly).
2. Transfer the mixture into a freezer-safe glass container and chill overnight (or at least 5-6 hours).
3. When ready to eat, thaw out the ice cream to a scoopable consistency****, serve drizzled with melted chocolate. Enjoy!

Notes

*My sweet potatoes were on the small side, so I just sliced them in half and baked them for 40 mins at 400F (in a pre-heated oven) on a parchment-lined tray. Then make sure to cool them off completely (you can even make a day ahead and chill them in the fridge until ready to use).

**The coconut cream used in this recipe is only the firm white stuff gathered at the top of chilled cans of full-fat coconut milk. You’ll need to chill the cans in an upright position overnight for the cream to separate from the water and surface up to the top. I used four 160ml Thai Kitchen full fat coconut milk cans for this recipe. ALTERNATIVELY, if you're trying to avoid coconut, you can use a plant milk of your choice instead. The coconut cream helps to make this ice cream more creamy, and less "icy".

***The leftover water from the full fat milk cans is what I used here. You can alternatively use a non-dairy milk of your choice.

****Note: this ice cream takes a bit longer to thaw out so it's easily scoopable (unless it's very hot where you are), so give it a bit of time on the counter :) .