Avoiding dairy is one great step towards cruelty-free life and these days going dairy-free is easier than ever with any supermarket selling all sorts of different plant-based milks for any taste. But, you might ask in the heat of the summer, how about ice cream? Surely one could not be asked to give up ice cream! Fear not – there are plenty of vegan ice cream options out there.
First of all, most gelaterias will have fruity sorbet options which are every bit as refreshing and delicious (if not more so!) as ice cream. Conveniently they are also lower in calories so there are many reasons why sorbets are a more guilt-free option. While sorbets are by definition made of only fruit, sugar and water, in a gelateria it’s always worth checking to make sure they haven’t added any milk in them. For example Ice Queen in Gzira and Amorino in Valletta serve lovely sorbets and offer very helpfully confirmation that they do not have a drop of milk in them. In latter you will also find granitas with different fruit flavours.
Then of course there is the good ol’ Grassy Hopper, always ready to please the veggie crowd. They serve delish vanilla ice cream in both outlets (in Gzira and Valletta). This lovely treat comes from their sister company Theobroma in Valletta so you can also go straight to the source. All desserts from Theobroma are vegan so you do not even need to worry about the ingredients – however if you are curious to know, they use coconut milk instead of dairy so that is where the lovely coconutty taste and irresistible creaminess comes from.
In the northern part of the island, Sottozero in Bugibba is known for their scrumptious vegan ice cream options. They do several sorbet options, including specialties such as fig and prickly pear (when in season) as well as the traditional lemon and strawberry. In addition to sorbets they offer a variety of ice cream flavours made with rice or soya milk, including dark chocolate, different nuts and tiramisu among many others. The only problem you might have is to decide which one to sample!
These are just some of the options but surely there are more out there. What are your favourite spots for vegan ice cream in Malta? Go on, share it with us!