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Ivy Freeze

I knew I wanted to go green for this Summer of Scoops pairing. I already had the frozen aspect to tie in with “Batman & Robin” villain Mr. Freeze, but I wanted the flavor to tie into the movie’s other villain, Poison Ivy.

This poison-free, vegan and gluten-free matcha pandan frozen custard recipe makes 2 pints or 4-6 servings.

Ingredients
2 11.25-ounce cans condensed coconut or oat milk (22.5 ounces total)
1 cup vegan milk
1 teaspoon buko pandan extract
1 tablespoon matcha powder
1 tablespoon spirulina powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Instructions
Pour the condensed milk, regular vegan milk, buko pandan extract, matcha powder, spirulina powder and xanthan gum into a blender.

If you don’t have buko pandan extract, I would recommend another tropical flavor like lemon, coconut or pineapple. Almond could also be used. You might also want to add some vegan green food coloring, as the buko pandan extract’s green color enhances the color of the custard. (Get more of my ice cream 101 tips here.)

Pulse until all of the ingredients are evenly mixed.

What happens next depends on your ice cream maker. If you have a more standard one, you’ll pull your chilled (for 24 hours) bowl out and pour in the mixture to make the ice cream.

If you have one like mine, you pour the mixture into two pints then freeze them for 24 hours.

After that time, you put each pint into your ice cream maker and let it do its magic on the ice cream setting.

Scoop, serve and enjoy with “Batman & Robin!” (Or eat it straight out of the pint like we did.)

The Easy Route
If you find some vanilla vegan frozen custard, you could probably stir in some matcha powder and buko pandan extract to achieve the flavor and color of this recipe.

Know of an ice cream parlor, restaurant or brand that makes vegan matcha pandan frozen custard? Please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
“Batman & Robin” is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. But it is an iconic movie and a staple of my childhood.

When I rewatched it a few weeks ago, I was stunned at how rapid fire the bad ice/frozen puns come out of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mouth as villain Mr. Freeze.

You can tell this movie is more spectacle than story from the start.

Like the other films in that era of the franchise, there’s always a second villain, and this time, it’s Poison Ivy played by the one and only Uma Thurman.

Both Schwarzenegger and Thurman are, in my opinion, perfect for these particular iterations of the iconic villains, bringing the bravado and melodrama to every line delivery.

As much as I love George Clooney, he was absolutely miscast as Bruce Wayne/Batman. In a movie that was more subtle, he would have been great. But “Batman & Robin” can in no way be described as subtle, so his performance felt disjointed from the rest of the film.

Then you have some of the ridiculous visual choices. The Batman nipple suit may have also appeared in “Batman Forever,” but it really gained notoriety in the trainwreck that is “Batman & Robin.”

In college, some friends and I even made “nipple suit” cocktails, which I believe may have just been Irish cream liqueur served in baby bottles, to pair with this movie. (If you want to make that instead of the frozen custard, be my guest.)

Another positive from “Batman & Robin” is getting to know a little more about Alfred (Michael Gough) through the movie’s plot and the addition of Alicia Silverstone’s character. Michael Caine was a fine Alfred in the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, but Gough’s performance in this four-film series of “Batman” films is iconic and the first thing I think of when Alfred is mentioned.

If you are up for some eye roll-inducing puns, a deeper dive into Alfred’s backstory and Clooney standing around wondering what he’s gotten himself into, then “Batman & Robin” is the movie for you.

If you decide to make matcha pandan frozen custard and/or watch “Batman & Robin,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes

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