Gingerbread ice cream

I had a friend over to visit last Sunday and in true Sunday style we had a full on roast dinner complete with this nut roast, I actually used predominatly sunflower seeds this time which worked very well.

For dessert I wanted something quick easy and not too heavy after such a big main course. My hot pear and gingerbread crumble was the perfect fit- particularly since I had some of my buckwheat granola left over to use on top! I made a large batch of saucy topping and had quite a lot remaining afterwards so...what to do?

...Gingerbread ice cream! 

this gingerbread sauce was turned into ice cream!

I’ve not made many frozen desserts in the past, partly because I don’t have an ice cream maker, but every now and again curiosity gets the better of me. This is one such time.  This ice cream also perfectly fits the theme of my sugar free Whole Foods Challenge

If anyone does try this out with an ice cream maker please let me know how you get on and how creamy the ice cream is?  Without an ice cream maker this little concoction has some ice crystals and is more like a sorbet, but in actual fact I think this texture suits the dessert really well as it is a very refreshing after dinner experience and would make the perfect accompaniment to a an apple pie or pear crumble (it could replace the sauce on top of the hot pear curmble).

The strength of the ginger dominates the banana which is what I was looking for, of course the banana undertones are there in the background but I felt this flavour combo struck a great refreshing but mellow balance. I used soy yogurt in my recipe, and have not tried other substitutions, but you may find that full fat coconut milk gives a creamy texture. 

I toped my icecream with a simple dark chocolate drizzle made from melted cacao liquor, melted coconut oil and a little liquid sweetener. It freezes upopn contact with the ice cream for a lovely 'crack' as your spoon dives in. You could also dust with lemon zest, nuts or crystalised ginger if you desired.

Recipe: Gingerbread ice cream

Makes one small tub

Ingredients:

2 bananas (approx 200g peeled weight)
equal weight in vegan yoghurt (or coconut milk)
1/4 tsp pure stevia
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs fresh ginger (use more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

Blend all ingredients together until very smooth. Pour into a freezer container and freeze stirring twice during the following 2 hours as it freezes.

 

  
For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Power ice cream!

This is quite simply my new favourite snack…just a pity I discovered it during the last few weeks of summer since it is a snack of the ice cream and soft serve variety! Oh well, I will still eat it in winter too, maybe simply as a chilled desert as it really is that versatile. This is very similar in principle to the 'chia puddings' seen all over blog land, but for some reason I just couldn't make the texture of those chia puddings work for me...however change things up and add some yoghurt and I love it, crazy how such a small change can make such a big difference!

banana and raspberry soft serve bowls

I’ll stop going on in a moment and cut to the chase, but this really one of the best breakfast, dessert and post work-out power snack concoctions that I have chanced upon in a while.

The chia seeds are the key ingredient in this recipe with the added bonus of their amazing hydrating qualities (perfect for summer or post workout).  This recipes simply calls for chilling the mixture until it begins to freeze for a soft-serve or just freeze for longer for an ice cream. Note that without the addition of refined sugars and dairy fats the ice-cream will freeze harder than regular ice creams but I have found that a 30 minute thaw in the fridge prior to serving thaws the ice cream just enough for serving up, it can then simply go back in the freezer if need be.

The chilled chia soft serve is best made in quantities to eat on the same day (unless you want to fully freeze into an ice cream). You could alternatively make a larger batch and keep in the fridge for more of a chia pudding without the’just frozen’ texture.

This is another simple recipe base where you can easily play around with topping until your hearts content. I particularly like the banana soft serve with a sprinkle of cacoa nibs- as pictured in my ice cream balls, or how about topping with, granola or a crumbled smoosh bar or simply go chia crazy and add a dollop of chia jam!

banana soft serve with a dash of cinnamon (couldn't resist!)

Recipe: Chia soft serve dessert and ice cream

Serves 1

Ingredients

½ cup yoghurt of choice (I used soy)

2 tbs chia seeds (plus extra to sprinkle serving if desired)

¼ cup fruit puree (i.e apple, strawberry, raspberry or banana puree) note: banana is my favourite and makes the dessert super creamy.

Spices to complement the fruit.e.g a large pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg

Extra fruit, chocolate, granola etc for optional topping

Note: I used white chia seeds for a light coloured mixture but dark would be fine too.

Method

Mash/blend all ingredients together to achieve a smooth consistency.

Chilled pudding: Store in fridge of min. 30 mins. before serving to thicken up.

Soft-serve: Store in the freezer for a 2-3 hours to create a soft-serve dessert.

Ice cream: Freeze for longer to make an ice cream.

chia banana ice cream with coconut flakes and cacoa nibs to serve

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Strawberry cream granita

Summer is slowly drawing to a close…..nooooo!

The kids areback to school, the nights are getting shorter (making it increasingly difficult to get daylight shots of my evening meals) and the air is getting cooler…not that it really hotted up an awful lot round here. Maybe we’ll have an Indian summer. One can all but hope!  I really need to get my 'night mode' photography equipment sorted (lighting and tripod etc), these shorter evenings have turned my priorities to it since the window of daylight during the winter is so restrictive otherwise.

So, before the summer turns into a full on Autumn, I thought I’d best get this recipe out there. I still have a little stock pile of summery recipes to share, so we’ll see how many I can get through over the next few weeks.

This recipe is super simple, an extension of my ice cream making efforts. This freezes hard making it perfect for a ‘scrape your own’ granita. Make sure you blend everything up together really well and you should be fine. You could also try using coconut milk for an alternative creamy texture to the cashew butter- note: I have not tried it this way.

Perfect served over a simple fruit salad.

How do you like to serve you granita?

Recipe: Strawberry cream granita

Makes 1 tub (approx. 2 cups)

Ingredients:

2 cups berries (I used strawberries)

1 cup water

2 tbs agave plus a pinch stevia (more or less to taste)

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup cashew butter

Method

Puree everything together and pour into a tub suitable for the feezer. Whisk with a fork a coip;e of times as it freezes.

To serve, scrape with a form to form crystals. This mixture freezes hard and makes the perfect chilled dessert topping.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

‘Secret ingredient’ Dark chocolate ice cream

Ok so I made you wait…and wait!

You first saw it melting into the choc-chunk cookie pie, but now here we have it in its own right. My super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. Top it with nuts, sprinkles, coconut flakes or a chocolate drizzle, this ice cream is light and refreshing whilst packing a substantial punch…all due to its secret ingredient…

Black beans!

Yup, another spin on the worlds healthiest fudge, further fuelled by the success with this chocolate frosting, it was only a matter of time before the worlds healthiest chocolate ice cream was born!

Perfect teamed with a warm dessert, served soft with layers of fruit or spooned into a cone to enjoy drippy ice cream in the sun shine. The sunshine actually came out today…whoooo!

I call this dark chocolate ice cream as it has a richly intense slightly ‘bitter’ dark chocolate flavour (bitter is not the best word to use- but I hope you know what I mean!) Using coconut milk may give a creamier result (not I have not tried it that way). You could easily jazz up this recipe with mix-ins of coconut, cookie chunks, chocolate drops…..

I topped this cone with a simple chocolate drizzle made with agave syrup, cocoa and melted coconut oil. I mixed approx. 1 teaspoon of each together to create a thickish runny chocolate sauce which froze upon contact with the cold ice cream.
                                                                                                                                                                            

Recipe: Dark chocolate ice cream

Makes approx. 600ml

Ingredients

1 batch fudge- see below

1 ½ cup ‘milk’

3 tbs agave

30ml rum (I used Malibu)

Fudge ingredients:

½  can black beans- rinsed and drained

1 mashed banana

½ cup cocoa powder (or raw cacoa powder)

1/3 cup dates

2 tsp vanilla extract

½  tsp cinnamon

½ tsp stevia

½ cup ground oats**

2 tbs ground flax

2 tbs ground chia seeds

Method

Mix up the fudge by combining all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients to the fudge dough and blend until you have a thick smooth liquid of yoghurt like consistency. Pour into a freezer container with easily removable lid. Place in the freezer for a few hours until solid, stirring twice every hour or two as it begins to solidify.

You can either serve in a semi-frozen state as a ‘soft serve’ dessert, or wait until fully set.

Note: once frozen it will freeze hard due to low fat and sugar content. Taking the ice cream out of the freezer and placing in the fridge 30 mins before serving will help soften it up a little. The alcohol content helps to make a more uniform softness, without it the softening process takes longer and is less consistent (although the resultant ice cream still tastes good!)

Note: I do not have an ice cream maker so have not tried using that method.

* This cone is not vegan or gluten free. I made this particular ice cream for my sister who isn’t vegan and this was the only option available to me. I know vegan and gluten free cones are available- Barkat and Escal are two such brands that are available in the UK.

** for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Chocolate chunk cookie pie

Another cookie-pie you might be thinking…?  Oh yes, but it’s a full throtle ‘Cookie Pie’ not a breakfast cookie-pie.

This warm and melty chocolately pie tastes like cookie dough….only it’s good for you! Would I ever let you down?

You’ve probably already guessed what’s coming next…beans. Ok it’s another chickpea recipe, but hey what’s not to love when chickpeas can taste this good (i.e like cookie dough pie!)  There are so many recipes of this kind floating  around blog world and so it was only a matter of time before I attempted a healthy, gluten free version of my own. 

This is the second time I have made this dessert and the fist time it was tasty but a little dry. The second time around it was perfect. I attributed this to two factors... 1) don’t skip the dates as they add a caramelly sweetness and moistness, 2) make sure you don’t over cook the pie- it wants to be only just cooked when tested with a skewer.

To take the decadence factor up a notch I teamed this pie served warm from the oven (so so so good served hot) with a dollop of my newly developed super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. You will think I’m crazy when I tell you this ice cream has beans in it too (black beans this time!) but I’m gonna make you wait for that recipe….

A healthy, high protein, warm and comforting dessert…perfect whatever the weather be it summer or winter…you can never go wrong with a slice of cookie pie for dessert. Top tip: don’t skimp on the choc chunks…the oozy melty part is the best bit! (see the difference between the top pic and the one below- no melted chunks below)

Recipe: Chocolate chunk cookie pie

7” round cake pan

Ingredients

1 cup cooked chickpeas

4 tbs vegan yoghurt (or apple sauce)

1 tbs coconut oil- melted

3tbs agave

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup quinoa flakes (could sub oats*)

Approx. 1/3 cup finely chopped dates

¼ cup chopped nuts (I used hazlenuts)

Tiny pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup dark chocolate chunks (reserving some for the top)

Handful of nuts for top- optional

Sprinkle of coconut sugar or rapadura- optional for a crisp topping

Method

Blend the wet ingredients with the chickpeas in a food processor/blender until smooth. Mix all remaining ingredients (other than choc) together in a medium bowl and then add the blended wet ingredients. Mix together , adding the chocolate chunks last (reserve a handful for topping).  

Spoon the batter into a smallish approx. 7” greased round or square cake pan, smoothing the top with a knife and sprinkling the remaining choc chunks/nuts for decoration. Press the nuts and chocolate lightly into the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx. 15 mins until cooked through and slightly golden. Be careful not to overcook otherwise you’ll have a drier cake…still tasty but much better moist!

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Maple pecan ice cream

Up until now I hadn’t tried my hand at ice creams…or any form of frozen desserts. But all that may be about to change…! I already have few ideas up my sleeve and a few tests underway. So first up ice cream!

This last week summer has been in full swing (I hope I haven’t just jinxed it) and I could no longer ignore the urges for some ice cream. There is something about ice cream that really is the epitome of summer, and it also makes you feel 10 years old again!

I debated long and hard about the flavour choice and the ingredients to form the base of this ice cream. I had thought about going for a traditional vanilla, but then had second thoughts that maybe such a ‘simple’ flavour may be deceivingly difficult to pull off. Bearing in mind I had never tasted vegan ice cream…neither shop bought or home-made, and also I don’t have an ice cream maker.

So, I settled on a banana and cashew combo for the base, to create a really creamy ice cream with a subtle hint of banana rather than a full on banana flavour. Through my extensive research into homemade vegan ice creams I came across a recommendation to add raisins to achieve a really buttery texture, hence why they’ve also been added here, also for the additional natural sweetness.

The maple syrup and pecans provide the dominant intensity of flavour. The key is to blend everything really well to achieve the full on creamy effect that these ingredients offer. I kept the pecans chunkier for extra texture. I froze the ice cream in ice cube trays, to pop out and blend again just prior to serving, this achieves the creamiest consistency without the need for an ice cream maker. The ice cube trays are also great for making mini servings to melt over pancakes or desserts, or insert a toothpick for a mini frozen lolly!

I served mine on bed of chocolate shavings over my newly created ‘speediest sponge ever’….recipe to come shortly!

Recipe: Maple pecan ice cream

Makes approx. 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 banana

½ cup cashew butter

1 tbs tahini

¼ cup raisins

½ cup soy milk (or other alternative milk)

½ cup pecans (or walnuts although they are more bitter)

¼ cup maple syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

In a food processor add the banana, nut butter, tahini and raisins and blend to form a paste. Add all remaining ingredients and blend together to break up the pecans into smallish pieces. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze

For best results re-blend the frozen chunks briefly and re-freeze to desired consistency to serve.

Alternatively, freeze in one container and remove from freezer 10 minutes prior to serving to slightly soften- note resultant ice cream may not be as creamy as above method.

This recipe was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday's and Allergy Free Wednesday's.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.