Chocolate ice cream - dairy free, egg free, vegan

Things with us are going OK - we're on top of the allergies (for now *touch wood*) and naturally, putting Harry first means that aside from the odd longing filled thought of Galaxy bars, cheese, and a decent cup of tea - being dairy free is fine. But I miss treats, oh how I miss treats. Ice cream was mine and M's thing. We knew it was Friday as we'd sit down with a couple of scoops of whatever was on offer. And I loved it. Since going dairy free I've not really missed ice cream so much, but I do miss our ritual. And no, fruit salad is not the flipping same.

A month or so ago Lakeland invited me to their Taste of Summer event, and as part of it were demonstrating dairy free ice creams. Feeling wildly inspired, and with a mini ice cream maker as a gift I had a bash at some dairy free, chocolate ice cream. Super easy, incredibly tasty - and much, much cheaper than what's on offer at the supermarket

Dairy free chocolate ice cream - serves 4, or possibly 1 mama who hasn't had a decent pudding since November. Ahem. Not all at once though.

1 tin coconut milk
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml maple syrup (you could use honey, but then it wouldn't be vegan)

Chill the base of your ice cream maker - I used the mini ice cream maker from Lakeland - which for this quanity works well.
Mix up the coconut milk, cocoa, vanilla and maple syrup then pour into the base of the ice cream maker
Pop the lid on and set it to churn - I left it for about 25 minutes, by which time the base was starting to defrost. The ice cream was lovely and smooth and a bit like a Macdonalds milkshake thickness wise. As it wasn't getting much thicker, I popped it into the freezer and left it for another half hour - after which - perfect ice cream.

This was amazing - a full on chocolate flavour, not too sweet, and the bounty bar-ness of the coconut milk was just there in the background, not too overpowering.

I've had to restrain myself from making it again, but I have itchy fingers and want to add peanut butter this time!

Vanilla Ice Cream - Minchellas

Not making, although Mark's mum was telling me about making ice cream the other weekend - seriously she makes the best lemon flavour. Almost like a cross between lemon curd and ice cream. Just gorgeous. And that's in the face of eating her homemade Bailey's icecream. Quite, quite gorgeous. Watch this space.

It's a well known fact about these parts that ice cream is my downfall. Faced with a bowl of chips, large bars of dairy milk, or anything else and I would take the ice cream any time. It needs to be good quality, but apart from that I'm not too fussy. I have to restrict myself, not have it in the house as I will just eat it otherwise.

On the way back from Skye, we dropped in on my friend Louise, and the weather being just so balmy and sunny, with gentle sea breezes* that we had to drop by her local ice cream parlour. Decorated in a simple fifties style with pastels adorning the walls, we went to Minchellas. A South Shields institution this was amazing ice cream. The sort I remember from childhood. I had a knickerbocker glory, the layers of ice cream separated by fruit, green jelly, raspberry sauce, sprinkles and topped with whipped cream. This was lacking nothing save for a glace cherry.

Mark had a plain ice cream & smarties topped with marshmallows and a flake, and Louise had a choc nut sundae. Seriously all were amazing. Last week Louise posted me a picture of her sundae as I was missing it. Truly.

If you're in or around the South Shields area - run, don't walk to Minchellas. Ice cream as it should be.

*I may have taken artistic licence with the description of the weather. Blowing a gale, thunder, lightening, and the heaviest rain I have seen in a long while.

Toot sweets! Toot sweets!

The eatable tweatable treat!

Although in this day and age I feel like it should be Tweetable instead.

This is really part 2 of the post about our holiday where I stop being sanctimonious about taking pictures whilst we eat and not only  do I post pictures of one meal but two. Well meal is exaggerating a bit. It's pudding. Pudding in the most glorious (sadly quite overlooked by other tourists) Gelateria that we found in Playa Blanca. Hand made piles of pillowy, soft, melting, unctuous ice cream (and some frozen yoghurt just to balance the equation. Of course I didn't try them, looking just made me feel healthier). Flavours included dulche de leche, nutella, rasberry, creamy vanilla and an amazing chocolate. Options included sundaes, but the lure of a simple cornet was too much for us to bear.

Nutella and chocolate (this was mine) 

Dulche de leche and white chocolate

Just as an aside, I can't type or say Dulche de Leche without thinking of Guys and Dolls. For years I longed to play Sarah Brown, loving her role and songs, and for a while "If I were a bell" was one of the pieces I dragged out for auditions, never realising that she was hammered whilst singing. I would actually like to try whatever it is she drinks in Havana, just to say I have.

Now whilst we were away Shrove Tuesday took place. I was distraught at the prospect of no pancakes so was thrilled to find crepes on the menu at my new favourite gelateria. Initially I had planned to make pancakes in our mini kitchen at the hotel, but as a toasted sandwich had set fire alarms off left, right and centre the night before I wimped out and we pottered down to Playa Blanca. It would have been faster, but I slowed us down with the aid of my trusty stick.

It's here I have to make a confession. On this holiday I became slightly obsessed with... Nutella. No Supermarket chocolate spread for me, Nutella is all that will do. Dear Lord I love the stuff. And would quite happily eat it with every meal. Suggestions for how to become unobsessed with Nutella are welcomed as at the moment I'm rationing myself to it on a slice of bread on the nights I get in too late for dinner, or if I'm too slow in the morning instead of breakfast.

Here is my Nutella pancake, and Mark's slightly classier caramel crepe. His quote "yum!"