So many people I speak with give me lists of their favorite foods, and ice cream is always one of them. But I often wonder how many of the ingredients in ice cream are (1) recognizable, (2) healthy, or (3) easy enough to make on your own. Yes, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla are what you'd call "pure ingredients" but the truth is, I want the food I eat to give me energy, not take it away, and I've experienced all too well the "sleepy feelings" I get after eating something so fat and sugar laden. Plus I'm not investing in the cholesterol spike, thank you very much. I want something that tastes good, and that is good for me.
The other thing is, I'm a sucker for convenience. Are we not all suckers for convenience? And although many people might scoot out the door to the local food store to grab a pint, I just don't have time or patience for that. When I want chocolate, I want it right then and there, so I need to be well stocked with the right ingredients. Lucky for me, this ice cream has 3 ingredients in it and I make sure they are always in my house (and so can you).
Real Ice Cream for Real People means this...you are made of live stuff. You should eat live stuff. You are not made of dead stuff, so you shouldn't eat dead stuff. White sugar is dead stuff. Chemicals weren't even alive to begin with. And the story goes on and on. You get me? Pretty simple.
The first thing you do is grab a ton of bananas when they go on sale (and please make them organic - non-organic bananas have pesticides on them that ultimately lead to cancer in those who work with them and are responsible for shipping them to us. Plus, they're only another 10 cents per pound, so let's just do the right thing). Take them home, peel them all, slice them up, put them in a Ziploc bag and consider yourself saved from chocolate withdrawal for the next month or so.
Onward and upward...
3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
(1 tablespoon maca powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
pinch salt)
3-4 frozen bananas, sliced
cacao nibs, to decorate
Really, this recipe is made of cacao, banana and nibs. The other ingredients in the middle in the parenthesis are just optional, but I love adding them. If using a high powered blender, blend everything together using the tamper as you go (you need to be pretty firm and insistent with it). Sometimes letting the bananas defrost for 4 minutes helps the process along. Otherwise, place the ingredients together in a food processor and run it, scraping, run, scrape, run, scrape until it starts to defrost a bit into a soft serve. Just give it some time and patience and in less than 5 minutes you have the most glorious ice cream that is fit for kings (or I should say, the 2 kings and one queen in my family of 3).
Pour it out, and sprinkle with the cacao nibs. Also, a little toss of unsweetened coconut didn't hurt anyone.
Just FYI, the maca makes things a tad gelatinous, so when you're using the blender, be prepared to go for the long haul. The motor might not enjoy it as much, but persist just until you get the right consistency BUT no longer, and you and your blender will live happily ever after.
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