Raw Lucuma Ice Cream

I love the taste of caramel. From Peru, comes a powder made from Lucuma, a delicious fruit that adds nutrition to any food combination, which tastes a little like caramel.

Lucuma Powder from Fruit

Quoting from David Wolf’s SunFood.com web site, "Lucuma is an excellent source of carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals -- including remarkable concentrations of beta-carotene, Vitamin B3 (niacin), and iron. Lucuma has a full-bodied subtly sweet flavor and has long been a culinary favorite of Peruvians and superfood enthusiasts worldwide."

Quoting from the NaturalZing.com web site, "Its unique and fragrant flavor resembles maple syrup. Lucuma is low in acid, low in sugar and contains an excellent source of carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is especially abundant in beta-carotene, niacin and iron with significant amounts of calcium and phosphorus."

Lucuma Ice Cream from Powder

Quoting my daughter, Sarah, "I make some variation on lucuma ice cream every week. It’s easy, delicious, and always ready for unexpected guests."

We make Lucuma Ice Cream so often that we don’t use a recipe. And, yes, it’s a little different each time because we vary the ingredients and experiment. Always, though, we use raw ingredients; and with very few exceptions, we use certified organic ingredients.

However, it’s not fair to you for me to say, add a little of this and a little of that. So, I’ve written the recipe below, using the SunFood.com web site, which is itself a variation on the classic recipe, as a general guide for quantities. Below the written information, I’ve included a video with a different recipe.

Lucuma Ice Cream: 6-8 Servings
Ingredients 1 ½ cups really raw cashews, soaked ½ cup coconut cream, coconut meat, or raw coconut butter ½ cup organic lucuma powder ¼ to ½ cup sweetener* 1 whole vanilla bean 1 ½ Tbs psyllium hulls Approximately ½ cup best water available ¼ cup maca powder Celtic Sea salt to taste (or use any highly mineralized salt)
Directions Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend to a nice batter. Put in a container that likes to be in the freezer, and freeze until it’s the perfect consistency. An ice cream maker is not required, but you can certainly use one. Be sure to read additional notes below.

Cashews. Start with "really raw" or "raw, cool processed" cashews. They will be hard and dormant. Soak for 4-8 hours in the best available water. This softens them and makes them alive rather than dormant, which means you have the proper enzymes available in the nuts to digest them properly. Drain water and rinse the cashews.

Coconut. We’ve tried the coconut in all forms. If you’re purchasing it in a glass jar, look for raw, organic cream or butter if you want some of the coconut meat in it. If you’re purchasing fresh coconut, I recommend the Thai young coconuts if available; brown coconuts also make a great addition to this ice cream. You can use the liquid inside the whole coconut in place of the water in the recipe.

Lucuma Powder. Lucuma Powder is now more readily available in health food stores. Online, you can get it at SunFood.com and NaturalZing.com. This is, of course, the primary ingredient for which the ice cream is named. There’s really no suggested substitute.

* Sweeteners. Sweeteners are a large controversy in the raw food community and other health-conscious individuals. Sweeteners are yucon syrup, dates, honey, and stevia. I’ve tried all these, noticing that the different choices add flavors or textures to the ice cream. I no longer recommend agave nectar.

Vanilla. For the vanilla, the whole bean is the most wonderful tasting. We finely chop it before adding it to the mixture. Raw vanilla powder works fine, as does organic vanilla extract.

Psyllium husks make the ice cream slightly gelatinous and scoopable.

Water. Everyone has an opinion of the "best available" water. It has to be as you define it. Instead of water, use almond or cashew milk or coconut water.

Maca. A daily substance in our house, maca is also from Peru. Maca is a healthy complex carbohydrate, loaded with minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and fiber. I’ll write an article about this extraordinary superfood in the near future. There are many varieties of maca.

Variations. After you’ve experienced this ice cream following the general guidelines of the recipe, experiment with other ingredients that you like. Be creative. If you stay with the raw, organic ingredients, even the mistakes will be yummy.

Video from Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen
Lucuma Ice Kream

I thought it might be fun for you to see a video of someone preparing this Ice Cream, so I found the following video. Ani includes the recipe she’s using. You’ll notice by the very loud noise when she adds the cashews to the blender that she has not soaked the cashews. I do strongly recommend that you allow the time for the soaking process.

Happy Eating. Please let me know any of your experiences and/or variations.