Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream Float
This vegan chocolate ice cream float uses simple wholesome ingredients to create a delicious vegan spin on a classic dessert. Dairy-Free, Oil-Free, Paleo.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 large serving
- Category: Drinks
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Chocolate Syrup
- 2 tbsp dark maple syrup
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/16 tsp salt
Coconut Whip (or alternatively use store-bought coconut whip)
- 3 tbsp thick solid coconut cream from a can of full fat coconut milk, chilled overnight*
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Banana Ice Cream (Or alternatively use 2 scoops of vegan vanilla ice cream of your choice)**
- 2 medium-large frozen bananas
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/16 tsp raw ground vanilla bean (or ½ tsp pure vanilla extract)
Assembly
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or a nut-free non-dairy milk of your choice***)
- 1 cup sparking mineral water
- some dark vegan chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Chocolate Syrup: place maple syrup in a small bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder through a little sieve (this step is optional, but will help to reduce clumps in the syrup). Add the salt. Stir everything together with a fork or small whisk until the mixture is uniform and glossy-looking (like in the photo below). It will take a few mins of stirring to get to that stage, so be patient. When done, set aside.
- Coconut Whip: place all whip ingredients into a small metal mixing bowl and mix lightly with a hand mixer to whip it up. Set it aside. Note: you don’t want to over-mix this mixture. When done, it should look like this:
- Banana Ice Cream: Process all ice cream ingredients in a food processor until they reach a creamy ice cream consistency. You can also make this in a power blender instead. Set aside. Note: don't over blend or it will turn into a smoothie. You should stop when the consistency is creamy, yet firm and sturdy, and looks something like this:
- Assembly: Give the chocolate syrup a stir. Place it at the bottom of a tall large glass (or jar if you don't have a big enough glass handy). Add the almond milk (or non-dairy milk of choice) and give the mixture a stir to mix in the chocolate syrup. Add the mineral water. Then scoop in the banana ice cream using a small ice cream scoop (a cookie scoop with a trigger works well here). Top with the prepared whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serve immediately (with a straw). Enjoy!****
Notes
*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 can in an upright position overnight for the cream to separate from the water and surface up to the top. I used an organic Thai Kitchen full fat coconut milk can for this recipe. Reserve the remaining milk and water for other uses, only use the firm white cream for the whip. Note that it’s very important for the full fat coconut milk cans to be chilled first so it separates. If the solids aren’t this thick when you open the can, the whip isn’t going to work as well and will be too liquid:
**If you prefer, instead of the banana ice cream (or "nice cream") you can use regular vegan vanilla ice cream here for a more classic effect. You can use your favorite store-bought kind. Or if you prefer to make your own, I recommend this vanilla and salted caramel recipe.
***Feel free to use a non-dairy milk alternative of your choice. If you want a richer effect (and a nut-free alternative), use some of the leftover coconut milk from the can of coconut milk used to make the whipped cream here.
****Note: the middle part of the float will begin to separate if it's not enjoyed straight away. If this happens, simply give the mixture a stir and enjoy.
Keywords: vegan chocolate ice cream float (dairy-free, oil-free, paleo)