There are only a couple of dishes I thought I would never have again, once I moved to a plant based diet and this was one of them. I saw it on the menu at a nearby vegetarian/vegan restaurant, but sadly it was made using cow’s milk. It’s clearly not something I would eat every day. In fact I have only had it a handful of times in my entire life, but it’s nice to know it’s doable! It is also SO EASY to make.
I do hope you try it. Let me know if you do.
YOU NEED
2 cups of GF soy or coconut vanilla ice cream
2/3 cup GF plant based milk (I used soy milk because I wanted a thick consistency)
4 teaspoons of GF egg replacer
1 1/3 cup GF bread crumbs
rice bran oil for cooking
pure maple syrup
YOU DO
Place slightly softened ice cream into a 1 cup measuring cup. Using the bottom of a dessert spoon, flatten the ice cream into the cup as you go, to avoid air pockets. Once the cup is full, turn the cup, upside down and gently but firmly tap the ice cream out onto a plate. Place it into the freezer. I popped mine into a plastic bag so it wouldn’t get that horrible “fridgy” flavour that food gets when left uncovered in the freezer. Freeze for 2 hours.
Put the milk and egg replacer into a bowl and whisk till any lumps are gone.
Put the bread crumbs on a plate.
Remove the ball from the freezer. Remove it from the plastic and pop it into the milk mixture. Using a fork, roll it until it’s well coated. Quickly place it onto the plate with breadcrumbs. Using one hand to roll it and the other to sprinkle bread crumbs onto it, roll the ball around till well covered in crumbs.
Put it back into the plastic bag and into the freezer. Repeat this process 2 more times now, freezing for half an hour between each crumbing.
After the final crumbing, put it back in the freezer for a couple of hours.
Heat a small pot of vegetable oil in a small pot. You will need enough oil to cover the ball. Once the oil is hot (180c), use a large serving spoon with holes, to lower the ball into the oil and fry till the crumbs are browned. Pop onto some draining paper.
Serve IMMEDIATELY with pure maple syrup.
Yields: Serves 1 very excited person that maybe didn’t also have an entree. Or easily serves 2 who are willing to share it.
Time: 15 minutes, plus the freezing times.
Notes: GF Egg Replacer is found in most supermarkets in the health food section.
If you don’t need to use GF bread crumbs the Japanese ones from the Asian section of the supermarket are great, because many other breadcrumbs in the supermarket contain dairy, eggs and/or fish.
It’s imperative that the frying oil is at the right temperature. If it’s not hot enough the batter will absorb all the oil and be soggy and awful. If it’s too hot it will burn the batter. You can guess by throwing a tiny bit of bread into the oil when you think it’s hot enough and if it pops to the top of the oil and sizzles, the oil is hot enough. I do however recommend investing in a thermometer. They aren’t expensive and are available at most home wares stores.
