Substitute Ice-cream

Ice-cream is a popular dessert and nothing can compete with the taste of real ice-cream. But real ice-cream can present a problem for people who have to avoid dairy fat, who have an intolerance to lactose (the sugar in milk), or those trying to watch their weight.

On 'Burke's Backyard', Rosemary Stanton examined the benefits and drawbacks of ice-cream alternatives and provided a recipe for her own fat-free ice-cream alternative (whipped, frozen bananas).

Ice-cream alternatives

There are many dairy-free alternatives to ice-cream. Products range from fruit sorbets to fat-free, non-dairy ice-cream substitutes. These alternatives are made from a wide range of ingredients. Rosemary Stanton has analysed the contents of four products available in most supermarkets:

When compared weight to weight with dairy-based ice-creams the substitutes fared well. All had less fat than regular ice-cream. However, as the substitutes didn't have as much air whipped into them as regular ice-cream, eating the same amount (that is spoon for spoon) of a substitute would provide more sugar and kilojules from the substitutes than from normal ice-cream. This is because two scoops of regular ice-cream weighs 54g, while two scoops of the ice-cream substitutes weighs approximately 100g.

Breakdown and comparison

Normal dairy based ice-cream: 2 scoops (54g) has 6g of fat and 450kJ. 100g of regular ice-cream has 11g of fat and 835kJ. 

Tofu Lite: This product is made with natural soy bean extract, fructose, glucose, raw sugar, vanilla bean, three different vegetable gums, pectin and two emulsifiers. It claims to be 97% fat-free and lactose free with less than a third the calories and fat of normal icecream. However this claim is incorrect. In 100g (which equals two scoops) Tofu Lite has 615kJ and 2.8g of fat. While it does have a third the fat of regular ice-cream, it does not have a third of the calories because regular ice-cream has 835kJ per 100g on a weight basis or, on a volume basis, 450kJ for 2 scoops. 

Fruccio: Fruccio is made from cane sugar, glucose, vegetable oil, walnuts (walnut flavour only), vegetable starch, soy protein, natural flavours, natural colour (malt extract), three vegetable gums, sea salt and water. This product claims to give all the joy of ice-cream without the guilt. However 100g (which equals two scoops) of Fruccio has 530-652kJ (depending on flavour) and 5g of fat.  

Vitari: Vitari is completely fat free. It is made from various fruit juices, vegetable gums, citric acid, polydextrose, soy protein, flavour (for some varieties) and colour. 100mL of Vitari has 240-250kJ (depending on the variety) and there is no fat. 

Sorbet: In general sorbets are made from sugar, egg white, different gums and various flavourings. They are dairy-free.

Frozen banana whip recipe

Frozen banana whip has no fat or additives and is probably the only ice-cream substitute that is high in fibre.

Ingredients:

• Bananas, as many as required, approximately
• 1 small banana per person.

Method:

1. Peel bananas and place them whole into the freezer for about 2 hours.
2. Remove the bananas when frozen and cut them into chunks.
3. Place into a food processor and whiz them until they turn into a creamy soft serve dessert. Some food processors take 3-5 minutes before the chunks of banana change into a smooth creamy mixture.

Further information

For more of Rosemary Stanton's advice on food and nutrition consult the revised edition of Rosemary Stanton's Complete Book of Food and Nutrition (Simon & Schuster, rrp $29.95).

Copyright 1997 CTC Productions