Each month, our Test Kitchen experts — Shannon and Síomha — go head-to-head in a battle of recipes! This month, they squared up and melted down over who could create the best ice cream. Trust us, this was one battle the rest of the Easy Food was happy to judge! The inside scoop: while Shannon’s classic vanilla ice cream earned extra points for its simplicity (no ice cream maker required!) and perfect execution of rich, vanilla flavours, we were also blown away by Síomha’s vegan version — we were so surprised at how creamy and decadent this was! The secret ingredient is coconut cream: this lends the rich texture and only a delicate, natural coconut flavour to her ice cream.

The only way to see for yourself is to try out their recipes here! Let us know how you get on by tagging us on Instagram @easyfoodmag!

Shannon’s three-ingredient no-churn vanilla ice cream

“This ice cream is so creamy and rich! I gave my ice cream machine away to the charity shop years ago, so this ice cream was perfect as you only need a hand mixer or some muscles. It’s so easy to make but you can really show off the fact you made ice cream yourself.” — Shannon

Síomha’s vegan coconut ice cream 

“I was surprised at how much I liked this ice cream. It’s really simple and straightforward with an ice cream machine, and would keep even die-hard dairy lovers happy. Use a good-quality coconut milk here, as this will be a predominant flavour.” — Síomha

Hungry for more? Check out our five homemade ice creams that are sure to keep the summer vibes going!