75 paleo-friendly ice cream recipes
This is my 92nd cookbook review. I have learned a TON about cookbook design, layout, and recipe writing from reviewing all these cookbooks. I don’t expect all cookbooks to be full-color, have glossy paper, or even to have photographs inside. I do hope that they are well-designed.
I was excited when I heard about Paleo Ice Cream: 75 Recipes for Rich and Creamy Homemade Scoops and Treats
Layout and design:
The book is organized as follows: introduction, how to use this book, the classics, fun & fruity, frozen “drinks,” sweet inspirations, adventurous flavors, sorbets, frozen custards, vegan ice creams, homemade toppings & more, more than just ice cream. The interior design uses a lot of fonts, making it less user-friendly than it could be. The interior of the book is printed on newsprint.
Photography:
There are no photographs inside the book. The cover uses stock food ice cream photographs, not photographs of his recipes, so I have no idea if the recipes yield results that look like real ice cream.
Recipes:
Creative recipe flavors include cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, fresh tracks, avocado-banana, chai tea, white Russian, strawberry cheesecake, double chocolate candy bar, chocolate stout, blackberry sorbet, holiday spice frozen custard, banana nutella ice cream, chocolate shell, and kombucha float.
Recipes contain honey, xanthan gum, and eggs. Vegan ice creams are egg-free but sweetened with honey (which many vegans do not eat), and one calls for hazelnut butter (which contains milk powder).
What I liked about the book:
Gave me some great ideas for working with coconut milk to achieve an ice cream base I can utilize. Very creative flavors. The author seems like a very nice guy.
I wasn’t so keen on:
Recipes were not coded for special diets; nutritional analysis is not provided, which would be helpful for low-sodium eaters. Vegan recipes contain honey, which might be an issue for committed vegans. Design issues mentioned above. All recipes call for xanthan gum, which many people are sensitive to, although the author says you can omit it. I am not sure how the vegan ice cream base would thicken without it.
Recommended for:
paleo, low-sodium, dairy-free, vegetarians, celiac/gluten-free (if you are familiar with your ingredients this should be okay for GF diets)
Not recommended for:
Migraine, strict vegan diets
A note about my cookbook reviews: In the past, I tested at least three recipes from each book, took photos, and described my experience. Due to my dietary limitations (extremely-low-sodium for my Meniere’s Disease and trigger-free foods for migraine relief), it is no longer possible for me to test the recipes and do them justice.
Required FTC disclosure: I received one copy of this book from the publisher for the giveaway on July 30th, 2015.
Here’s the book if you want to see more:
Wow! I can’t believe I’ve never imagined making ice cream – and here an ENTIRE book on ice cream recipes! Thanks for sharing. Also now I’m craving ice cream :-)
Thanks Mona. Yes, the cover is very enticing.
Bummer! We are vegan too – and the recipe titles look SO delicious! Plus I’m not so great at hacking recipes. Still intriguing flavors.
Gina, if you are okay with xanthan gum you could still try the recipes maybe… just use brown rice syrup or agave syrup in place of honey. But I haven’t tested any of the recipes due to my diet, so I can’t say for certain. Yes, very creative flavors!