You will constantly hear me speak of the incredible community that food blogging has introduced me to. It’s one of the most rewarding byproducts of this strange life path I have chosen. A little family of foodie friends, all connected by the common thread of our love of creating delicious, nourishing food and sharing it with the world.

Oftentimes, our fellow friends will need support, for varying reasons that might pull them away from creating content for their platforms. I myself have at times brought other bloggers in to share content her on Tasty Yummies, you might remember a whole month of posts from these talented folks while I was away with my yoga teacher training.

While my friend Sylvie, of Gourmande in the Kitchen, was off cooking up her greatest masterpiece yet, a beautiful baby girl, she asked if I would create a recipe for her site in the time just after she returned home, so she could enjoy all the new moments with her wee one. Of course, I gladly agreed, what an honor to be able to be of support in such a magical time. If you aren’t already familiar with Gourmande in the Kitchen, you should be. Sylvie, like me, subscribes to the belief that real food heals. All of the recipes on her website are free from gluten, refined sugar, and processed ingredients with many paleo, vegan, raw and allergy-friendly options as well. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Sylvie is an incredible photographer, every perfectly shot image drawing you deeper into her site.

Today, I am sharing this delicious, sweet, rich Dairy-free Caramelized Fig Ice Cream that is flecked with toasted pistachios, for a little crunch. This ice cream is simple to make, using the best ingredients and it’s a wonderful way to highlight the beautiful fresh figs, abundant this time of year.

Caramelized Fig Ice Cream

gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, egg-free, nut-free, vegan, vegetarian

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Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

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Ingredients 

• 1 can organic full fat coconut milk
• ½ cup about 8 soft pitted dates (or other sweetener)
• 1 ½ cups homemade almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• optional: thickener, see this post for thickener options (I used gelatin)
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 3 tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 1 lb ripe Brown Turkey or Black Mission Figs
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ¼ cup water
• pinch sea salt
• 1 cup toasted pistachios, roughly chopped (optional)

Instructions

• For the caramelized figs: Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add coconut sugar and water, stir to dissolve. Halve all of the figs and toss in the saucepan with lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until you have a fairly chunky, jam-like mixture. This should take about 25-30 minutes, or so. Add salt, give it a stir, set aside and let cool completely.
• Ice cream: Put the coconut milk and dates in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the almond milk (or other non-dairy milk), vanilla extract and thickener (if using). Puree until smooth. Refrigerate for about an hour or so, until cold.
• Using an ice cream machine, pour the ice cream base into the frozen basin and process according to manufacturer instructions, i.e., let spin and thicken for 20 minutes. Then add in the fig jam mixture and the toasted pistachios. Continue to process for around 10 minutes. Pour the semi-frozen mixture into a pyrex dish or glass tupperware. Freeze for at least two hours before serving.