Vegan Gelato Base Recipe: A Neutral White Base for a Shop
Table of contents
A vegan gelato base recipe for a shop must do what fior di latte does: taste of almost nothing, freeze the same way every day, and take any flavour. This 1 kg soy and cashew base, scaled to 5 kg, sits inside the vegan creamy range of the complete vegan gelato guide.
Most vegan gelato recipes are written one flavour at a time: a coconut chocolate, an oat vanilla, an almond something. That works at home. In a gelateria it means six plant milks in the walk-in, six sets of numbers to remember, and six chances for a batch to go icy on a busy Saturday.
The dairy answer to this problem is the mother base. Our gelato base recipe for a white base is one mix balanced so tightly that every flavour becomes an edit, not a new formula. The vegan equivalent follows the same logic with a different toolbox. There is no milk powder to raise solids, no lactose to share the freezing point work, and no milk protein to hold air. Each of those jobs has to be handed to a plant ingredient on purpose.
The four bases in the pillar guide (coconut, oat, almond and cashew) are flavour bases: each one tastes of its plant. This one is a production base. Its job is to be quiet. It uses unsweetened soy milk for protein and water, a little cashew paste for body, refined coconut oil for fat, two sugars for sweetness and freezing point control, inulin for solids that do not sweeten, and a small dose of pure gums.
The 1 kg Vegan White Base (and the 5 kg Batch)
Weigh everything, including the water. Plant milks vary a lot from brand to brand, so the brand you balance with is the brand you keep buying.
| Ingredient | Grams (1 kg batch) | Grams (5 kg batch) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soy Milk (Unsweetened) | 600 | 3000 | Water, protein, a little fat |
| Water | 61.5 | 307.5 | Fine adjustment of solids |
| Cashew Paste 100% | 60 | 300 | Body, protein, neutral nut fat |
| Coconut Oil | 50 | 250 | Main fat (refined, deodorised) |
| Sugar (Sucrose) | 130 | 650 | Sweetness and structure |
| Dextrose (Glucose) | 55 | 275 | Freezing point control (monohydrate) |
| Inulin HP | 40 | 200 | Solids with almost no sweetness |
| Carob Seed Flour | 1.5 | 7.5 | Locust bean gum, ice control |
| Guar Gum | 1.0 | 5 | Cold viscosity, partner to LBG |
| Salt | 1 | 5 | Rounds the flavour |
| Total | 1000 | 5000 |
Calculated with the app's ingredient table, the base lands at:
- PAC: 241
- POD: 172
- Total Solids: 37.4%
- Fat: 9.1%
- MSNF: 0.0%
- Sugars 18.7%, water 62.6%, protein 3.2%
Scaling is a straight multiplication because nothing in the formula is a percentage of something else. If you run a different batch size, put the 1 kg column into the recipe scaler rather than rounding by hand: 1.5 g of locust bean gum rounded to 2 g is a 33% overdose.
Two names in the table need a word. "Coconut Oil" means refined, deodorised oil. Virgin coconut oil carries a strong coconut aroma, and a base that tastes of coconut is no longer neutral. "Dextrose (Glucose)" is the monohydrate most shops buy, which the app counts at POD 64 and PAC 173 per 100 g as sold; the anhydrous form counts higher per gram.
The Numbers Against the Vegan Range
Quick reference. The vegan creamy range is total solids 35 to 42%, sugars 17 to 24%, POD 130 to 195, PAC 220 to 310, fat 7 to 13%, MSNF 0 to 1%, water 58 to 65% and protein 1 to 3.5%. This base hits every one.
| Figure | Base | Vegan creamy range | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total solids | 37.4% | 35 to 42% | Lower middle, room for a flavour |
| Sugars | 18.7% | 17 to 24% | Low, so additions can bring sugar |
| POD | 172 | 130 to 195 | Middle, sweet but not cloying |
| PAC | 241 | 220 to 310 | Lower middle |
| Fat | 9.1% | 7 to 13% | Middle |
| Water | 62.6% | 58 to 65% | Upper middle |
| Protein | 3.2% | 1 to 3.5% | Near the top, on purpose |
The placement is deliberate. A neutral base should sit low on solids and sugar and in the middle on fat, because almost every flavour you add later brings solids, and many bring sugar or fat. A base that starts at the top of the range leaves nowhere to go.
PAC 241 sets the display temperature. The PAC rule of thumb for gelato is display temperature of about PAC divided by -20, which puts this base at roughly -12 °C, the middle of a normal -11 to -14 °C case. If your case runs colder, raise the dextrose share rather than the total sugar, because dextrose adds freezing point depression with less sweetness.
Protein sits near the ceiling because protein is what vegan bases lack. Unsweetened soy milk measures about 3.5 g of protein per 100 g in USDA FoodData Central, close to the 3.3 g of skim cow's milk in a 2024 review of milk and plant drinks, and far above oat or almond drinks. Protein helps the mix take air and gives it body, the job milk protein does in a dairy base. That is also why this base does not carry extra pea or soy isolate: it is already near 3.5%.
Why Each Ingredient Is There
Soy milk, 600 g. It is the water phase and most of the protein. Once the mix is sweetened and served cold, unsweetened soy milk keeps its flavour in the background, and it brings more protein than oat, almond, rice or cashew drinks. The soy milk gelato article in the related list compares it with oat and almond.
Cashew paste, 60 g. Pure cashew paste adds about 28 g of fat and 11 g of protein to the kilo, and a dairy-like round body that soy alone does not have. At this dose it reads as creaminess, not as cashew. The cashew cream gelato article covers higher doses, where the nut becomes a flavour.
Refined coconut oil, 50 g. Coconut fat is solid at cool room temperature, so it gives the frozen gelato structure in the way milk fat does. Liquid oils give a softer, greasier scoop. The vegan gelato fat sources guide compares the options, including cocoa butter, which works too but costs more.
Sucrose and dextrose, 130 g and 55 g. Without lactose, the sugars carry all of the freezing point work. Dextrose lowers the freezing point much more per gram than sucrose (PAC 173 against 100 as sold) with less sweetness (POD 64 against 100), so the split keeps the base scoopable at -12 °C without tasting like syrup.
Inulin HP, 40 g. This is the piece that replaces milk powder. A dairy base reaches its solids with skim milk powder; a vegan base has nothing equivalent. High performance inulin adds 38 g of solids to the kilo with almost no sweetness and only a small PAC contribution (8 per 100 g in the app's table), which takes free water off the table without making the mix sweeter or softer.
Locust bean gum and guar, 2.5 g together. Pure gums, not a blend. The how much stabilizer guide puts pure single gums at about 1 to 2.5 g per kilo, and this base sits at the top of that window because it has no milk protein network to help. Goff's Ice Cream Technology e-book notes that guar is more soluble than locust bean gum at cold temperatures, and that stabilizers are often combined so each improves the other, which is why this base pairs them and heats the mix. More on blends in the vegan stabilizer blend guide linked below.
Salt, 1 g. It rounds the flavour and keeps the base from tasting flat. At 1 g per kilo nobody tastes salt.
Pasteurising and Ageing the Base
- Disperse the dry ingredients cold. Mix the sucrose, dextrose, inulin, locust bean gum, guar and salt in a bowl first. Gums added on their own form lumps that never hydrate.
- Warm the liquids. Put the soy milk and water in the pasteuriser or saucepan. At around 40 °C, whisk in the dry mix in a steady stream.
- Add the fats. Add the cashew paste and coconut oil and keep heating. Blend with an immersion blender at high speed once the oil has melted, so the fat is broken into small droplets.
- Pasteurise. The Ontario criteria quoted in Goff's e-book, which Ohio's frozen dessert rule also uses, are 69 °C held for 30 minutes or 80 °C held for 25 seconds. Use whichever your jurisdiction requires. The heat also hydrates the locust bean gum.
- Blend again, cool fast. Blend once more, then cool the mix quickly.
- Age. Goff gives at least four hours and usually overnight for ageing, which lets the fat crystallise and the gums and proteins hydrate fully. The gelato mix ageing guide linked below explains what happens in the tank. Plant fat bases benefit from the full night.
The pasteurization deep dive covers the equipment side, including how to hold time and temperature on a shop machine.
Turning the Base into Flavours Without Leaving the Range
Quick reference. Small flavourings ride on top of the base. Anything that brings fat, protein or a lot of water needs a swap in the base, not an addition to it.
Here is what the calculator shows when you try the obvious move, using the app's ingredient table for every line:
| Version | Recipe | Solids | Fat | Protein | POD | PAC | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | as above | 37.4% | 9.1% | 3.2% | 172 | 241 | In range |
| Vanilla | base + 3 g vanilla bean | 37.5% | 9.1% | 3.2% | 172 | 241 | In range |
| Hazelnut, added on top | 900 g base + 100 g hazelnut paste | 43.5% | 14.4% | 4.4% | 159 | 221 | Out: solids, fat, protein, water |
| Hazelnut, swapped in | see below | 36.7% | 7.9% | 3.4% | 173 | 242 | In range |
| Strawberry | 550 g base + 350 g strawberry + 75 g sucrose + 25 g dextrose | 33.5% | 5.1% | 2.0% | 207 | 282 | In the vegan fruit range |
Vanilla rides on top. Three grams of bean in a kilo changes nothing measurable. The same goes for coffee extract, spices and citrus zest.
Nut pastes need a swap. Pouring 100 g of hazelnut paste into 900 g of finished base pushes fat to 14.4% and protein to 4.4%, both over the ceiling, and drops water below 58%. The fix is to let the nut paste replace the cashew paste and coconut oil: 500 g soy milk, 161.5 g water, 110 g hazelnut paste, and the same sugars, inulin, gums and salt. That lands back at 7.9% fat and PAC 242. The same swap logic applies to pistachio or almond paste.
Fruit changes the product type. Strawberry brings a lot of water and little solids, so the base is diluted and extra sugar goes in. The result is no longer a creamy base but a vegan fruit gelato, and the calculator judges it against that range (solids 30 to 38%, sugars 20 to 27%, PAC 250 to 330, fat 3 to 8%, protein 0.5 to 2%). It fits, with protein right at its ceiling.
Chocolate needs its own formula. Cocoa brings solids, fat and protein at once, and vegan chocolate has its own target range. Start from the vegan chocolate gelato recipe card rather than loading cocoa into this base.
For ready-made flavoured formulas, the vegan oat milk vanilla and vegan vanilla coconut cards are useful comparisons: they taste of their plant, this base does not.
Allergens, Labels and Common Faults
This formula contains soy and cashew. Both are on the FDA's list of major food allergens (soybeans and tree nuts), and FDA rules require the specific tree nut to be named, so the label reads cashew, not just "nuts". The rules on coconut differ between markets, so check how yours treats it. If you also run dairy flavours, plan your cleaning between vegan and dairy batches: the vegan label is about the recipe, and cross-contact is a separate question for your own allergen plan.
Faults you are likely to see in the first weeks:
- Icy after two days in the case. Usually the gums went in cold or lumpy. Disperse them in sugar and reach full pasteurisation temperature.
- Melts fast and looks wet. Check that the coconut oil is refined and fully emulsified, and that the base aged overnight. The melt article in the related list goes deeper.
- Beany aftertaste. Change soy milk brand before you change the formula, and rebalance with the new brand's label.
- Too hard at -12 °C. Move 10 to 15 g of sucrose to dextrose and re-run the numbers.
Every change, however small, goes back through the free gelato calculator before it goes into the pasteuriser. That is the whole point of a mother base: you change one line and you know which number moves.
Related Concepts
- Vegan Gelato Fat Sources: choosing between coconut oil, cocoa butter and nut fats.
- Vegan Stabilizer Blend: building your own gum blend for plant bases.
- Soy Milk Gelato: the high protein plant milk behind this base, compared with oat and almond.
- Gelato Mix Aging: why the overnight rest matters even more without dairy.
- Why Vegan Gelato Melts Fast: the melt faults of plant bases and how to slow them down.
