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Time for a
much loved classic.The Magnum.
I’m pretty
good with my plant-based diet – happy in the knowledge that how I choose to eat
is better for my health, better for animals, and better for our planet.
But there are two things that still seem to stop me in my stride.
Cheese…
And Magnums.
Fast forward to 2019 though, and the plant-based scene has developed with such a fervour, that we’ve now just seen the launch of fully certified vegan dairy free magnums. That’s right. All the same indulgence and delicious. Sans the dairy. (I’ve tried them, they’re delicious.)
In fact, across the board there are now dairy-free options abound – in the realm of ice cream, cheese, eggs, and even ‘meat’. It’s so much easier to choose a healthy whole foods plant-based diet now, compared to six and a half years ago when I first started this wee Be Good Organics blog. Plant-based whole foods, yet with all the flavours and familiarity of the foods we grew up with and loved.
And so, in honour of this progressively eco-friendlier market, this week we’ve made a brand new video of these incredibly good Homemade Magnums we’ve been making the past 6 years (before the real thing was available in stores). These ones are super fun, 100% pure whole foods, and taste every bit like a magnum should.
So here they are, along with my original 6-year old blog post on dairy – which still holds as true today as it did all those years ago. Enjoy these. They’re super good. And definitely worth making while the sun’s still out!
The dark side of dairy
I’ve talked about my closet love affair with dairy before. Take anything that’s smooth and creamy and I’m in. Freeze it and add some chocolate and nuts, and I’ll likely be stealing your portion also.
I used to
consume a lot of dairy, especially when I decided to be fully vegetarian. Back
then I thought I needed it for protein and calcium, and of course I was a big
fan of the taste having been brought up in dairy-crazed New Zealand. After some
research though, I realised that the dairy industry is not that great a place
for cows to hang out. You see in order to produce milk, dairy cows need to be
kept continually pregnant and give birth every year. However once their calves
are born there is no further use for the vast majority of them. These
‘bobby calves’, which include all male calves born and around three quarters of
female calves born, are separated from their mothers within as little as
12 hours after birth. A few of them are raised for a couple of months, then
slaughtered to be sold as veal (baby calf meat). However the
remainder are transported, completely bewildered, to be killed as unwanted
‘waste products’ of the dairy industry.
Because there
is little money in bobby calves, they are normally transported in terribly
overcrowded conditions without food, water or room to lie down. Understandably
they arrive at the slaughterhouse fragile, weak and absolutely terrified
without their mothers. There is often additional abuse by farm workers that
takes place. Mother cows also grieve for their lost babies, and it is
common on dairy farms to hear the sad howling of mothers calling for their lost
babies for weeks. I’ve read about a number of instances where a mother cow has
broken out of the paddock and run for hours trying to find her lost baby calf.
In the New
Zealand dairy industry alone (a country of only 4 million people), over 2
million bobby calves are killed every single year. The global dairy industry is
one of the least understood animal industries, and has long operated under a
veil of secrecy. What they want us to see is rolling meadows of happy cows
milling about. Understandably, we’re never shown footage of what happens once
they’re inside closed walls. The industry knows that many consumers of milk
would find the callous treatment of bobby calves completely unacceptable and
rethink their consumption of dairy and financial support of the industry.
Another
shocking practice in the dairy industry is the induction of healthy, pregnant
cows, who are forced to abort their calves prematurely simply to fit in with
the farmers’ milking schedules. This is so the whole herd can be brought
into line with each other and begin producing milk at the same time, rather
than inconveniencing farmers until they have all given birth naturally. Many of
these calves die during the abortion process, while some are born alive and
killed not long after birth (2015 update – the practice of
induction is now illegal in NZ, however is still practiced overseas
– premature birthing is also still encouraged on some farms in the hopes
of birthing a stillborn and therefore not having to ‘deal’ with another living
calf).
In the US it
gets worse, where dairy cow mothers are confined in factory style concrete
sheds, unable to roam pastures as they naturally would, and fed artificial hormones
and low quality grains instead of their natural diet of
grass. Their baby calves earmarked to be sold as veal are kept in
tiny steel metal crates for the few short months of their lives, where they
can’t move their muscles, and are kept weak and anaemic (no iron) so as to
achieve the apparent ‘delicacy’ that is a lighter coloured more tender piece of
flesh.
It’s a pretty
heart-breaking industry, all in the name of a slice of cheese, a tub of greek
yoghurt, or a creamy ice cream. It’s also generally the reason why most people
who’ve chosen to be vegetarian for ethical reasons, end up veering towards ‘veganism’. If
you’d like to learn more, SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation) in NZ provides
some great information here, as does Animals Australia here.
It was
therefore with great excitement that a friend of mine began making these
gorgeous homemade Magnum Ice Creams one day. Magnums have long been my all-time
favourite ice cream, and truth be told I’ve struggled to replace them with an
equally delicious creamy frozen treat that’s cruelty free too. So these tasty
treats have been my saviour. Creamy, indulgent and delicious, yet healthy,
dairy free and refined sugar free.
They also don’t contain palm oil which I was horrified to learn was also an ingredient in my beloved Magnums. Palm oil plantations are one of the main causes of mass deforestation in subtropical Asia, as well as the cause of a number of endangered species such as Orangutans, Rhinos, Pygmy Elephants, Sun Bears and Snow Leopards reaching near extinction (many of these animals now have less than 50 of their kind left in the world – truly shocking stuff). So here’s to the bobby calves, their dear mums, the orangs, rhinos, elephants, sun bears and snow leopards. Try this recipe out, and help us save the glorious diversity on our planet, one cruelty free ice cream at a time.
Note this
recipe recreates the classic “Magnum Ego” otherwise known as a “Magnum Double
Caramel”. You can however also use the recipe to recreate many of the others in
the range eg:
Magnum Classic – omit the caramel topping, and dip in two layers of chocolate creating one nice thick layerMagnum Almond – as per the Caramel Ego, but instead of the caramel layer in between, dip the first chocolate layer into a plate of chopped almonds before adding the second chocolate layerMagnum Dark – as per the Classic, but add an extra 3 tablespoons of cacao powder to your chocolate mix to create a dark chocolateMagnum Mint – as per the Dark, but add a few drops of mint oil, a handful of chopped fresh mint, and a teaspoon of spirulina to your ice cream mixMagnum Double Chocolate – as per the Dark, but add 1 tablespoon of cacao powder to your ice cream mixMagnum Mochaccino – as per the Classic, but add 1 tablespoon of cacao powder and a shot of organic fair trade espresso to your ice cream mixMagnum White – swap the cacao powder for coconut milk powder.Magnum Berry – add half a cup of berries to your ice cream base.
Enjoy these
beauts, and let me know what you think!
Til next
week, stay happy and well my friend.
Please note – if you are wanting to meet any of the specific dietary requirements below, please read my recipe notes.
Homemade Magnum Ice Creams
Instructions
Vanilla Ice Cream
Blend the coconut cream, bananas and vanilla extract in a high speed blender until creamy. Pour into four popsicle moulds and freeze overnight, or until solid.
To remove the ice creams run water over the mould. They should pull out easily (if not, repeat this step). Lay the popsicles onto a tray lined with baking paper and return to the freezer while you make the chocolate.
Chocolate Coating
Stir the cacao butter over low heat until melted. Add the cacao powder, liquid sweetener, vanilla and salt extract and stir until smooth.
Dip the popsicles in the chocolate. Place back on your paper lined tray and return to the freezer while you make the caramel.
Caramel Filling
Blend the dates, almond butter and a splash of water in your blender, food processor or Thermomix. You will need to stop and scrape the sides of your machine a few times, and add small amounts of water as you go, to get a smooth thick caramel consistency.
Spread the caramel on both sides of each ice cream, being careful to smooth the edges and top as much as possible. Return to the freezer for another 1-2 hours until the caramel has firmed up to the touch and is no longer sticky.
Gently re-melt the chocolate over low heat if necessary and dip the popsicles in the chocolate one last time. Return to freezer for another 30 minutes or so. Allow to thaw for a few minutes before devouring!
Recipe Notes
The chocolate can also be made with coconut oil. I have made it both ways: cacao butter gives a nicer texture and taste (and won’t melt as quickly), but coconut oil is also lovely.
You can also use whatever liquid sweetener you have handy, like agave syrup/maple syrup/brown rice malt syrup
Nutrition Facts
Homemade Magnum Ice Creams
Amount Per Serving
Calories 729
Calories from Fat 495
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 55g
85%
Saturated Fat 19g
95%
Sodium 7mg
0%
Potassium 875mg
25%
Total Carbohydrates 63g
21%
Dietary Fiber 9g
36%
Sugars 42g
Protein 7g
14%
Vitamin A
1.8%
Vitamin C
8%
Calcium
7.4%
Iron
20.1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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