Can’t let the summer go by without posting an ice-cream recipe right??
Though in real life I am actually eating a lot of spicy, savory stuff now, my blog seems to be flooded with sweet chocolaty recipes! It just happens that I haven’t really been shooting and documenting the food I have been cooking these days and everything I have in my archives are sweet.
But an ice-cream post in summer can’t go wrong I guess. While I am not a great lover of ice creams, summer is one time of the year when I actually enjoy a scoop of two of ice cream occasionally. I make popsicles for my daughter often but I don’t make much ice cream at home.
This recipe of course was born out of one of those desperate attempted to save my never-disappearing stash of overripe bananas. I wasn’t in a mood for a cake so I thought why not make ice cream instead. I liked the idea of caramelizing the bananas to add some depth of flavor but wasn’t sure how plain caramelized banana ice cream would taste. A tiny bit of cocoa in this adds a nice touch but if you like your chocolate dark, I suggest increasing the quantity of cocoa powder in the recipe to 4-5 tbsp.
On the whole I really enjoyed the soft, creamy texture of this ice cream without too much sweetness. Roasted almonds provide a lovely occasional crunch. When it’s not frozen anymore (if left in the refrigerator for too long), it has a consistency of a mousse, which is also really nice. So if you are in a hurry to serve it, you can serve it chilled too!
If you like bananas and chocolate (especially together), this recipe is for you. My husband, who is not a fan of either of them, actually enjoyed a big bowl of this! Try it, it’s a refreshing change from those banana breads and cakes this summer.
Notes:
You could use almonds instead of cashew nuts in this recipe.
Replace 10-12 small bananas with 2-3 regular sized bananas.
You can use regular white sugar in the place of unrefined cane sugar and butter instead of coconut oil (it will no longer be vegan)
Skip the roasted almonds if you don’t like it or replace it with any other nut of your choice.
If you like the flavor of Banana a lot, try making this without the cocoa in it for a plan caramelized banana ice-cream.
I am sure a tiny bit of dark rum would make this ice-cream even better!
Ingredients:
- 10-12 small overripe bananas
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ cup unrefined cane sugar
- ½ cup cashews
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup almonds
Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
Soak the cashew nuts in warm water for 30 to 40 minutes.
Dry roast the almonds till fragrant and slice/crush it into a coarse powder.
Cut the bananas into slices of about 1 cm thickness and place it in a baking tray. Drizzle the coconut oil and ¼ cup of cane sugar over it. Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes till the banana is soft and caramelized. Let the banana cool completely.
Drain the cashew nuts and blend it into a smooth paste. Add the caramelized bananas, ¼ cup of cane sugar and 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and blend again till it’s creamy and smooth.
Add the almond powder and mix everything with a spoon. Pour the mixture into a new tray, cover it with silver foil and freeze for 5-6 hours.
To serve, remove the ice-cream from the freezer and let it soften for 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Serve with additional almonds or a drizzle of your favorite chocolate sauce.
