Anyone for Ice Cream?

Here is my sugar free, low-fat, diabetic-friendly, guilt-free Rum and Raisin Ice-cream. It’s perfect during the hot weather! 

Apart from chocolate, Rum and Raisin is one of my favourite ice-cream flavours, but because of my diabetes, it’s a craving that’s gone unanswered for me for years.

Ice-cream in general is something I don’t eat much of because of the sugar. 

I find the shop-bought options, although they taste amazing, are often high in sugar, carbs and fat. But I do steal a mouthful or two of my hubby’s ice-cream every now and then. 

My dad used to get Rum and Raisin Ice-cream when I was just a kid and I can remember always stealing a bite.  

So I wanted to recreate this flavour for myself in a version that was guilt-free. My Sugar Free Rum and Raisin Ice-Cream is not only great for people with diabetes, but also for anyone looking for a low-fat, healthier option. 

My Diabetic friendly Rum and Raisin Ice-cream 

I took to experimenting to recreate my childhood food memory.

But what’s in it?

All my ice-cream recipes, Diabetic-friendly Chocolate Ice-Cream , use a base of raw cashew nuts, which I find are really great for adding body and a smooth creamy texture in place of cream. I try to avoid cream to keep the calories down. 

My secrets

Traditional Rum and Raisin Ice-cream contains whole raisins, which are great because they add a lovely burst of sweetness when you chew them.

For my first batch of ice-cream, I used whole raisins, but I found because of the sugar and carb content, I could only use a small handful without blowing out the total carb content of each serve.

So, I experimented with different methods to try and recreate the an authentic flavour of Rum and Raisin ice-crea, but without the sugar and extra carbs.

My secret is to blend the raisins with the rest of the ice-cream ingredients, as this really brings out the sweetness in every mouthful and reduces the amount of raisins needed.

By blending them, this also ensured the subtle raisin flavour infiltrated through the whole batch of ice-cream – bingo!

I also use a Vitamix blender to get a really smooth and creamy texture. You can use a standard blender or food processor, but I find Vitamix achieves an ultra smooth consistency, which is essential for a truly creamy ice-cream texture.

I also suggest investing in an ice-cream machine for this. Don’t worry if you don’t have one, you can still make great ice-cream by using the double freeze method.

For this, just pour the ice-cream mixture into ice-cube trays and put in the freezer until frozen. Then add the frozen cubes to a blender or food processor and blend to achieve a smooth consistency. Scoop the mixture into an air-tight container and refreeze.

This is a great way of making ice-cream without churning it, but a proper ice-cream maker does give a much smoother texture which is unbeatable!

For sweetness I use 100% natural Stevia powder, which is available from health food stores. I try to avoid the versions that available at local supermarkets, as these tend to be mixed with sugar alcohols which do raise blood sugar levels.

One benefit is that you only need a really small amount. 

For more info about Stevia and sugar alcohols, check out my earlier post, Sweeteners Explained.   

Happy ice-cream making. 

Email me at t1friendlyfoodie@gmail.com or leave a message via the comment section of this blog to tell what you think of this recipe. I’d also love to hear about your food challenges living with diabetes.