WaffleParty.com brings you a special vegan waffle topping recipe treat: Soft, dark chocolate ganache, salted rum caramel, and mildly sweet coconut ice cream play atop delicious vegan waffles. Does life get any better than this?
A popular Portland ice cream parlor was recently out of my favorite flavor: Coconut with Petunia’s Salted Caramel Bars. So I had to do a bit of guessing, research and DIY reverse engineering. I ended up with something different but still very delicious and satisfying. I also realized that–big surprise here–it works really well on top of vegan waffles.
If desired, you could make just ice cream sundaes without the waffles, or you could make just one of the components below to put on your waffles. It’s all good!
Directions:
- Make the vegan chocolate ganache as described below, and place in the freezer to chill for at least two hours.
2. Make the vegan rum caramel sauce as described below, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours. If you wish to serve it warm over the ice cream, you can make it shortly before serving.
3. Make your favorite vegan ice cream. I’ve included a simple coconut vegan ice cream recipe below. You can also find a few in The Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook.
4. While your ice cream is being churned or is ripening in the freezer for an hour after churning, cook up a batch of your favorite vegan waffles. If you don’t have The Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook, check out some of the tasty treats under the Neutral Vegan Waffle Recipes category. The 48-Hour Yeasted Vegan Waffles and Naked Gluten-Free Vegan Waffles are just a few.
5. Spoon the toppings onto your waffles, and enjoy!
Soft Dark Chocolate Vegan Ganache
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or other semi-sweet chocolate broken into at least 8 to 10 chunks (see note)
- 1/4 cup coconut cream (see note)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
- Add the other ingredients and stir until well blended.
- Pour into a bread pan or bowl with a flat bottom so that it's no more than 1/2 inch thick when entirely spread out.
- Place in the freezer to chill for at least 2 hours.
- Remove from freezer and cut into small squares of desired size for adding to ice cream.
Notes
Very Simple Coconut Vegan Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 15 ounce cans coconut milk (see note)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or agave nectar (see note)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons rum or other preferred alcohol (optional; see note)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional; probably unnecessary if adding alcohol)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until all clumps are removed.
- Put in ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.
- If desired, place in freezer for an hour before serving to ripen slightly.
Notes
This ice cream is mildly sweet, as it's intended to go with other toppings. Taste the mixture before adding to the ice cream maker, and a few more tablespoons of sweetener if it's not sweet enough for you.
Homemade ice cream generally freezes pretty hard. If it's been in the freezer for more than a few hours, you may need to let it sit out a few minutes or use your microwave's defrost setting for a minute or two. Other ways to keep the ice cream from freezing quite as hard include adding a few tablespoons of alcohol (rum, vodka, or other preferred liquor of a similar proof), and avoiding "light" or "reduced fat" coconut milks which have a higher water content. The easiest solution, of course, is to eat the ice cream shortly after making it.
Vegan Salted Rum Caramel Sauce
Instructions
- Follow the Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce recipe from veganbaking.net, with the modifications below. It tasted a bit burnt and overly bitter to me when I used the full cooking times. Shortening the cooking times and adding a bit of additional sweetener after cooking seemed to balance the sweet/bitter balance for me--but your preferences may be slightly different.
- Heat the sugar for only about a minute past the time when it's entirely liquefied. This will probably be 6 to 8 minutes max. Add the coconut milk at that point, using a long spoon or spatula to avoid spattering hot liquid onto your hand.
- Remove from heat within a minute of adding and stirring in the coconut milk.
- After removing from stove, add the following, if desired: 2 to 4 tablespoons rum and 2 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup or agave nectar.
By the way, if you actually need an excuse to make vegan waffles, today happens to be National Waffle Day in the U.S. Bake a few tasty treats in honor of Cornelius Swartwout.
Also, if you’re in Portland and haven’t had the vegan salted caramel cookie bars from Petunia’s (an all-vegan and gluten-free bakery), they’re quite delicious even without the ice cream.