If you’ve never had a Vitalicious VitaTop, now is the time to start! There are so many unique and tasty flavors and they are only 100 calories each. I’ve always loved warming the Deep Chocolate Vitatops in the microwave but now I now have a new favorite. The wonderful Katie from Crier Communications, the Public Relations company that represents Vitalicious, reached out to me about the newest in the Vitalicious lineup of “vital” and “delicious” products, the Carrot Cake VitaTops. They are packed with fresh carrots, juicy raisins and comforting spices and they are actually good for you! I seriously love cake that’s good for me. She sent me a huge box of individually packed Carrot Cake Vitatops and I put them right in the freezer, since VitaTops don’t contain any preservatives. I did try one (okay, maybe two) and I was immediately inspired to use them in a recipe. I was originally going to make bread pudding (which I might still make) but the idea of rum raisin ice cream with carrot cake could not be missed! Oh, and did I mention that I grilled the Carrot Cake Vitatops on my indoor grill?!? Yup! I went there.
Dairy-Free Rum Raisin Ice Cream
adapted from The Wannabe ChefÂ
2 1/2 cups lite coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup rum
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
You need at least 2-3 hours to prep for this recipe. The same rule goes for all ice cream recipes because the custard needs time to cool. My favorite part of the process was right at the beginning! I soaked the raisins in the rum. Yum! I poured the rum over the raisins in a small bowl and steeped in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. If you don’t have 12 hours to wait, just steep the raisins for as long as the custard is cooling. Okay, maybe I tasted a few raisins along the way.
In the meantime, I prepared the ice cream custard. In a small saucepan over low heat, I brought the coconut milk and sugar to a light boil, stirring occasionally. I removed the coconut milk mixture from the heat and very slowly poured it into a bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the entire time. If you don’t whisk, your eggs might cook and you certainly don’t want that! I  poured the custard through a mesh sieve to catch any cooked pieces of egg, if there are any. The custard was nice and creamy. I let the custard cool to room temperature then covered and refrigerated it for at least 2 hours.
I whisked together the cold custard, maple syrup and cinnamon then stirred in the raisins and rum.
I poured the custard into my ice cream maker and churned for 25 minutes, according to my package directions. Definitely follow your ice cream maker directions since it could be shorter or longer than 25 minutes.
I spooned the mixture into a loaf pan, covered and froze for 2 hours before digging in.
When the ice cream was ready to eat, I prepared the Carrot Cake Vitatops. You could just defrost yours then make the ice cream sandwiches but I took it one step further. I rubbed some coconut oil (thanks for the suggestion, Yosef from This American Bite) on my indoor grill pan and heated over medium-low heat. I placed the frozen vitatops directly on the pan and grilled them for 3-4 minutes on each side. The raisins on the top got plump and sweet from the grill.
I cooled down the Vitatops for just a minute then I spooned the rum raisin ice cream right on top. You can either it it with a spoon or make a fun sandwich and chow down with your hands. If you’ve never had grilled cake before, this is your chance! And it’s even better because these Carrot Cake Vitatops are so healthful.
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