Whizzing frozen bananas in to a soft serve ice cream is the raw food community’s worse kept secret, and perhaps, their best advertisement? It is something which I have been doing for years, and posted my version with strawberries back in the hot summer of 2010.
I nearly always have bananas in the freezer, I buy in bulk from the market, 30 or so for £1 (surprisingly they are often Fairtrade), peel, chop into chunks and freeze. I throw them frozen into smoothies, or defrost to bake with. (Grapes and other soft fruit also freeze very well for use in smoothies). When we eventually move and no longer have such a cheap market near to us I shall have to buy a chest freezer and come to London by car to stock up every 3 months or so.
For a touch of indulgence on a cold January afternoon I added a generous dollop of caramel jam to my banana ice cream – dulce de leche would also work well, or peanut butter or speculoos to make a diary free vegan treat.
Sprinkled with toasted nuts and strawberry chips from my new dehydrator and served in an elegant cocktail glass to make it extra special it was a delicious and guilt free treat!
This barely needs a recipe, you can make this richer by adding cream or buttermilk, but it really does not need it, the whizzed up frozen bananas have a wonderful texture and are quite creamy enough without any additions.
- 2 bananas peeled and frozen, cut into chunks
- 1 heaped tsp caramel jam or dulce de leche speculoos or peanut butter
- Your choice of sprinkles – toasted nuts dried fruit, cocoa nibs or even cake sprinkles!
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Place the bananas and caramel into the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Depending how powerful the motor is this might take a few minutes. (I have successfully made this in both a £300 and an £30 processor).
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Transfer to an attractive glass, add your sprinkles and serve immediately.
Sending this to Kavey’s Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream Challenge where the theme this month is nuts and dried fruit.
I can vouch for it’s simple deliciousness. Thanks for participating, Helly! x
Lovely idea. I make tons of ice cream but have never seen such a simple recipe!
I am eyeing up those little pieces of dried strawberries which must taste lovely and this is certainly something I will be doing in future for a delicious yet virtuous pudding.
I’ve tried this in the past although I didn’t get a very good texture as I only had a cheap blender to play with. I inherited my Mum’s old Kenwood food processor last year though as she wasn’t really using it so will have to try again. I love how you’ve served it, you’ve made something very simple into something truly elegant :)
Brilliant idea. As is freezing bananas when they’re cheap. Great treat for kids (or adults) that’s healthy and cheap – will definitely be trying this.
I love that trick – so may people don’t believe me when I tell them. I can vouch for the fact that it works well with speculoos.
I’m SO making this when it’s not -30?C :)
Whenever I say it is cold, Ed’s entire family reply in unison “You do not know the meaning of cold until you have spent a winter in Canada!”
-30C is COLD. With knobs on.