Xanthan Gum | Vegan Mango Ice Cream Using Xanthan Gum

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 :-)

So why mangoes and 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.

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.

Xanthan gum is one of the popular food additives.  According to 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 in consistency. That property makes is 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. It is also used as emulsifier, thickening agent etc. 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 use it on necessary basis at a minimum amount. The other facts about Xanthan Gum can be found here and here.

Now back to the post after this long write up, :-) I went with store bough coconut milk and mango pulp. I couldn’t find fresh alphonso mangoes here. 

Equipments Used:

• For the mixing it initially, I used my hand mixer and also for first stir/churn I went with my hand mixer and for rest all I used regular mixer blender.               

Ingredients:

• Coconut Milk – 1 can / 13.5 oz can 
• Mango Pulp – 30 oz C or 850 gms
• Xanthan Gum – 1/2 tsp heaped
• Almond Milk – 1/2 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 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 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 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 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 lid.

• Cover and freeze again till they are set.

That’s it. Yummy and creamy ice cream is ready.

Notes:

• You can use 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 3/4 tsp of xanthan gum for this proportion.

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Xanthan Gum | Vegan Mango Ice Cream Using Xanthan Gum

A vegan homemade ice-cream prepared with coconut milk, alphonso mango pulp, Xanthan Gum and almond milk without Ice-cream maker.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: icecream recipes, vegan mango icecream

Servings: 4

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• Coconut Milk - 1 can / 13.5 oz can
• Mango Pulp - 30 oz C or 850 gms
• Xanthan Gum - 1/2 tsp heaped
• Almond Milk - 1/2 cup

Instructions

Equipments Used

1. For the mixing it initially, I used my hand mixer and also for first stir I went with my hand mixer and for rest all I used regular mixer blender.

Steps

1. Mix the coconut milk, mango pulp and almond milk and using the hand mixer blend them well.
2. Now add the Xanthan Gum and blend well.

Ice-Cream Churning Process

1. (This method and the time interval worked for me perfectly and I got nice creamy texture. I did only 3 churns. If you have ice-cream machine follow the instruction and churn accordingly)

Setting the ice-cream

1. After adding xanthan gum, cover it with aluminum foil (so as to prevent the freezer burn) and keep it in freezer for 2 hours.

Churn 1

1. After two hours, the ice-cream mix will be semi solid with small air bubbles on top.
2. 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.
3. Now cover it aluminum foil and let it sit for 2 more hours.

Churn 2

1. Remove the aluminum foil and using a flat spatula break the ice-cream.
2. Blend them again in a mixer/blender. I divided the mixture into 4 parts and blended each portion individually for about 2 minutes.
3. Transfer the blended ice-cream to a container with lid.
4. Cover it and let it freeze again for up to 8 to 9 hours.

Churn 3

1. We need to follow the same steps as we did in churn 2. Break the ice-cream and work on small portions.
2. Blend them well. By now, there should be no air pockets and as you blend you can the creamy thick ice-cream mixture.
3. Transfer the blended content to a container with lid.
4. Cover and freeze again till they are set.
5. That’s it. Yummy and creamy ice cream is ready.

Recipe Notes

You can use 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 3/4 tsp of xanthan gum for this proportion.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

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