food to glow

Use the basic premise of the one-ingredient ice cream to dream up your own creamy-textured treat. You can skip all of the suggestions and literally just bung some frozen banana pieces into a powerful blender or food processor and eat it right away without it going in the freezer – quite soft but still very good. 🙂

Oh, and if you like my little bowls, my dear friend Niki at unified space (contemporary homewares designer) got them for me from ceramic artist, myerhalliday.co.uk. She visited his Edinburgh workshop in the famed Coburg House collective and was spoiled for choice. She could have got anything from him and it would have been perfect.

4 bananas (or start with two for a first go at it to see if you like this kind of thing) – frozen as chunks or as whole peeled bananas, then cut

3 tbsp tahini, peanut butter, almond butter etc

Splash of almond milk or coconut milk

Extra bits…

1/2 tsp ground cardamom or cinnamon – optional

3 dates, soaked in warm water until softened, then sliced – optional

1 tbsp date syrup or maple syrup – optional (gives it a darker colour)

1 tsp black sesame seeds – optional

cacao nibs, for garnishing or stirring in – optional

1 small pear, chopped, tossed in a 1/2 tsp oil and roasted in 200C/400F oven for 15-20 minutes – optional

Special equipment – food processor (smaller bowl works best if you have options) or powerful blender.

Note: Some people find that food processors work best as it is easier to get the ice cream out of a food processor. I had no issues with my Froothie. My ‘beast’ made ultra smooth ice cream in seconds and the elongated and curved scraper that comes with it gets all the goodness out of the jug and into your bowl (or mouth, if you can’t wait!). The ultra-quick blitzing in a power blender compared to a food processor makes for an ice cream that really doesn’t need to go in the freezer before it can be scooped.

1. Put the banana pieces, tahini and a small splash of (almond) milk in your food processor or blender. Blend until you get a creamy-smooth consistency. Because the bananas are frozen they break down in stages, the first being kind of granular (and you think, oh god, this isn’t going to work!), then sticky (this is the pectin breaking down), then lumpy like hospital porridge, then et voilà – ice cream! You will need to scrape down the sides once or twice.

2. Pop the now-ice cream into a chilled container and stir in anything you fancy (see above, or your own imagination – chocolate syrup! choc chips! fresh fruit! nuts!). Freeze until solid. Top with roasted pear pieces if you made them, cacao nibs (also shown), a fruity or chocolatey sauce. As-is is perfect though: dodgy pictures of mine notwithstanding.