Chocolate Trail Mix "Gelato" (Dairy Free)
By: Kelly
Published: Friday, March 19, 2010 - 5:24pm

Ingredients




1 quart vanilla soy milk
 cup raisins
 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup sugar
7 egg yolks
 cup cocoa powder
 cup sliced almonds
 cup chopped walnuts
 cup shredded coconut (reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish)

Preparation

1 Soak raisins and dried cranberries in soy milk. Let set while making the custard. 2 In a double boiler, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, and cocoa powder. Be sure to whisk constantly to ensure that the eggs don't scramble. Heat the mixture to 140* and remove from heat. 3 Add soy milk to mixture and strain. Rinse the rehydrated fruit, and set aside.  4 Churn the chocolate soy milk base until it starts to thicken. Add fruit, nuts, and coconut during the last 5min. Transfer to a freezer proof container and chill until firm. When serving, sprinkle remaining coconut over the top along with any extra dried fruit and nuts you desire.

About


I started thinking about springtime...snow still flurries every once in awhile here, but that hasn't been stopping me from breaking out the winter coat and going for a nice long hike. One great thing about Portland is the numerous amounts of trails, I honestly don't think I could count them all! Looking around my pantry I decided to pay homage to the hiker/backpacker/outdoorsman in all of us (sure, it might be hiding in some of us...but it's there!) and make a Chocolate Trail-Mix "Gelato." The texture isn't as creamy and thick as most kinds of gelato, but it tastes fabulous. The chocolate flavor isn't heavy and overpowering...it tastes more like chocolate milk. Plus, the combination of sweet and salty when you get a piece of dried fruit or nuts is just great. It's like a Rocky Road spin-off with dried fruit and nuts. It is important to rehydrate the fruit in the soy milk before adding it in at the end, otherwise you'll end up with what feel like pebbles all through your ice cream!