LAB NOTES: Aquafaba Ice Cream. A fun way to beat the heat!

Posted On September 10, 2023

Hello all, Wayne AKA the Mad Food Scientist here.
Recently, I’ve been tinkering with a way to beat the heat.
I came across the Foodtech 101 YouTube channel hosted by Mr. Liburd, a teacher from the United Kingdom. The video that caught my eye was making a completely plant based scoopable ice cream made from aquafaba.
( LINK HERE: https://youtu.be/py0vOuo9qa8?si=y1AKd18mIM163LsG ) 
It took me a bit of tinkering, but I have finally achieved a modicum of success.
Below is what I garnered from the video.
ORIGINAL RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 Cup Aquafaba
1 Cup Plant based milk
1/4 cup neutral flavoured oil
1 tsp Cream Of Tartar
1 Cup of powdered, or icing sugar
1 TBSP and 1 tsp of vanilla
Fruit flavouring
Fruit ( Optional ) 

METHOD: 
ICE CREAM BASE:
Beat/whip the aquafaba for approximately five minutes.
Add the TBSP of vanilla beat/whip for one minute.
Beat/whip for approximately three minutes spooning in one, or two 
TBSP’s of the sugar at a time until all the sugar is in.
Beat/whip till you have stiff peaks.
Don’t over beat/whip.

MILK/FLAVOURING MIXTURE
To the Blender jar: 
Add the milk, oil, vanilla, and fruit
Blend for approximately 30 seconds.
Fold the milk mixture into the ice cream base.
Cover and place in the freezer until frozen. 

LAB NOTES: 04 September, 2023 ( I quadrupled the recipe )
INGREDIENTS:
720g/3 Cups Aquafaba
1 litre Plant based milk ( Yellow split peas )
215g/1 cup Canola oil
1 TBSP and 1 tsp Cream Of Tartar
454g/ 4 Cups of Turbinado sugar ( Powder it in the food processor )
65g/5 TBSP and 4.2g/1 tsp of vanilla
1/2 tsp of Sea, or kosher salt.
Fruit 340g of red raspberries ( 2 X 170g/6oz containers of red raspberries )

METHOD: 
ICE CREAM BASE:
Beat/whip the aquafaba for approximately five minutes.
Add 52g of vanilla beat/whip for one minute.
Beat/whip for approximately three minutes spooning in one, or two 
TBSP’s of the sugar at a time until all the sugar is in.
Beat/whip till you have stiff peaks. Don’t over beat/whip.

MILK/FLAVOURING MIXTURE
Disinfect the red raspberries in six cups of water and a tsp of sea, or kosher salt for at least ten minutes. Then drain and rinse before adding to the blender jar.
To the Blender jar: 
Add the 1 litre of milk, 215g of canola oil, 17.2g of vanilla, 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, and 340g of red raspberries 
Blend for approximately 30 seconds.
Fold the milk mixture into the ice cream base.
Cover and place in the freezer until frozen.

COMMENTS: 09 September, 2023
I went BIG on this one and quadrupled the amounts.

I also added 1/2 tsp of kosher salt to the milk mixture because salt is a flavour activator and enhancer. 
In the process of making this batch of ice cream I discovered the error that I had been making in previous batches of ice cream. I’d previously cut the sugar by three quarters. This time around I went with the full measure of sugar and achieved a much better result. I picked up the tip about disinfecting the fruit from an aguafresca recipe video on the View From The Road YouTube channel. As you may be able to see. I have no fear of borrowing tips, tricks and techniques from one recipe and applying it to another recipe.
This produced two large bowls of ice cream.

I took part of one and filled popsicle molds to make ice cream bars.

The ice cream bars turned out well and tastes very nice.
The ice cream also does well in an iced coffee application. The ice cream serves three purposes. It’s the milk, the sweetener, and the ice. 

The reason I used the turbinado sugar is that I have it on hand and I’d rather not pay what powdered sugar costs at the store. In addition, the flavour imparted by turbinado is phenomenal.
I’m going to give Mr. Liburd a shoutout for his excellent video. The video provided a clear, and concise methodology that was easily followed. Thank you Sir, for the recipe.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Is this a perfect one to one analog for dairy ice cream? No. Then again, I didn’t expect it to be. Does it taste bean-ey? No, not at all!
Did I execute it perfectly? No, I didn’t, but I did better than the last time. I’ll continue to improve as I continue making this recipe.
Now, you may ask: Where did I get the 720g of aquafaba?

Simple, I made it.
454g of dried navy beans this time around. Nor did the beans go to waste. They were turned into vegan Tuna salad. Making the acquisition cost of the beans even more affordable since the cooking of them made two different and distinct products. Well, three, because I used 60g of the aquafaba to make vegan mayonnaise to use in the vegan tuna.
Another ingredient that I made that was used to make the ice cream was the milk. Yellow split pea milk to be precise.
All in all, I’m rather chuffed with the results.I’ll definitely be making more of this ice cream.
I’ll also be making more things based off of Mr. Liburd’s videos. I strongly urge you to go check out the Food Tech 101 channel. Mr. Liburd provides a clear, concise methodology that is easily followed.
Finally, I’ll go against what your parents used to din into your ears.
Get in your kitchen and PLAY with your food!