My favourite type of pudding has to be ice cream, I think it’s definitely my weakness. I’ve even been known to be an ice cream before dinner kind of person, why would you want to be too full up for ice cream??
But surprisingly, the amount of ice cream I can have is pretty limited. A lot of ice creams are bulked out with wheat (great!), or have the whole ‘may contain traces…’ written on the back; meaning as a coeliac, you have to steer clear. And honestly, the gluten free ice-cream market is fairly small. Not that there’s not a lot of variety; it’s just that most of the free from options are not very nice.
Soft, Smooth and Creamy
Recently I came across Blue Skies Dairy Free Ice Cream, and as it promises to be allergy free, I had to give it a go. I chose to purchase the Mango and Passionfruit flavour, but I’ll admit that I didn’t really have high expectations. I was expecting it to be bland, artificial tasting and all-in-all not very nice. But OMG, it was soooo good!
Soft, smooth and creamy. It was the perfect texture straight out of the freezer. I could enjoy it straight away and didn’t need to leave the tub sit out for 10 minutes while I waited for it to thaw. The perfect definition of a soft serve goodie!
It’s creamy, sweet and has the perfect tropical flavour. Blue Skies promises to use only the freshest fruit, it’s definitely reflected in the taste! Personally, I think that the mango was the stronger flavour, and if I’m honest, I didn’t really get that much passion fruit. But that is only a tiny flaw for this vegan product. Besides, a quick look at the ingredients soon shows that there is a higher amount of mango than passion fruit so it makes complete sense that this is the dominate flavour.
This is just me being picky. I’m not complaining at all; this ice cream is absolutely delicious! The flavour is so refreshing. I know how silly this sounds but it actually tastes of fresh fruit. Not the strange artificial, perfumey aftertaste of chemicals that most fruity shop-bought puddings seem to have, but actual real-life fruit!
Free From?
Honestly, I think this is better than ‘traditional’ (dairy containing) ice creams. When I think of vegan ice creams, I normally think of more of a sorbet type pudding. Maybe because the creamier based desserts are usually packed with nuts so I can’t enjoy them. But this dairy-free delight is coconut based, and so very, very creamy. The coconut milk gives this the most perfect velevety, creamy texture that rivals most of the dairy-based ice creams I’ve tried. This definitely falls into my top 3 frozen desserts!
I did taste test, just so I could see other peoples reactions, and do you know, not one person could believe this was a free from product! They commented on the creaminess and softness of the ice cream, as well as the delicious, fresh tropical flavour. Bo (my 6 year old, very fussy nephew and big lover of ice cream), described this as his ‘favourite ice cream ever’ and quickly demanded more. He even asked to have it for breakfast because it’s now his favourite thing! Trust me, that is definitely high praise.
‘Serious Freshness’
Promising ‘serious freshness’ this is easily one of my favourite desserts. I would say it’s creamier, and tastier than most dairy ice creams that I’ve tasted. And possibly the best shop bough gluten free product that I’ve tried. It’s a perfect example that free from foods can still have a ton of flavour and be completely delicious. Just because we have to cut out a few ingredients, does not mean we have to compromise on taste!
As well as my new favourite Mango and Passionfruit, this dairy free ice cream also comes in two other flavours: Coconut and Chocolate & Orange. Cost-wise, it is quite pricey at £4.99 for 450 grams. But when I compared this to other premium brand ice creams, it is in the same price bracket. And honestly, since being diagnosed as Coeliac, I’ve become used to spending double the price to get half the flavour so I seriously think that it’s worth every penny! Blue Skies ice creams are available on Ocado and in Waitrose stores throughout the UK, I can tell that this pot isn’t going to last a very long time. (Update: Day 2 – only ¼ of the tub left… Thanks Bo!! 😊)
And if you needed one more reason to run out and try this product, here’s a statement from the Blue Skies website:
‘We partner with Ghanaian growers to source only the finest sun-ripened fruit and creamiest coconut milk, and rush these straight from tree to tub to create our delicious fresh-tasting ice-cream.’ – https://www.blueskies.com/ice-cream/
Overall, If you couldn’t guess, I would definitely recommend this. It’s smooth, creamy, soft and bursting with a delicious fresh fruit taste. I think that this trumps all other ice cream and is definitely one of my favourites. It may be a little pricey, but the flavour is so, so, so worth it!
Rosie x