Ice-Cream and Giggles

Sometimes, you want to have something that isn't chocolate. Though to be honest, that only happens to me around once a year. You can never have too much chocolate!

Unfortunately, most of the people I know do not share the same sentiment when it comes to chocolate. So when birthdays come around I am forced to make boring vanilla cakes for my loved ones *sigh*.

Caramel on the other hand, is something I can do when chocolate isn't allowed. Especially salted caramel. There is just something wonderful about how the salt cuts through the sweetness of the caramel, you know? So basically I came up with a frozen salted caramel treat that is delicious, satisfying, and refined sugar free. The caramel is made from dates, just a heads up, so if you aren't a date person these might not be for you. But if you are...well, you are in for a treat!

These are sweet, creamy, and cool for those hot summer days. If it is summer in your hemisphere, anyway. Currently shivering through the last month of winter over here.

Prep: 10 minutes. Freezing: at least 8 hours. Total time: 8:10.

Makes 7 normal sized popsicles.

You will need:

For the date sauce:

7 medjool dates (pitted and soaked)
3/4 filtered water (can use leftover date water)
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 tbsp maple syrup

For the popsicle:

1 cup coconut cream/milk
1 banana

Plus around 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt, for serving.

Method:

1. In a high speed blender, add medjool dates, water, salt and maple syrup and blend until smooth.
2. Place half of this mix in a bowl and set aside, leaving half in the blender.
3. Add to the blender coconut milk and banana. Blend until smooth.
4. For assemblage, divide the date sauce between the 7 popsicle moulds. Then pour on top of the date sauce the coconut-banana mix. Add popsicle sticks.
5. Place in freezer for at least 8 hours.
6. When serving, sprinkle a little dash of salt on the popsicle!

Lamingtons are a quintessential Australian dessert. Imagine a vanilla sponge cake, with a jam filling, rolled in chocolate and coconut. So yummy. Since going vegan at the back of my mind was a desire for this delicious treat, but every recipe I found was full of sugar. I mean, the ratio of flour to sugar was 1:2 (i.e. 1 cup of flour to 2 cups sugar)! Kinda crazy. So naturally, I had to attempt to make a refined sugar free version! The good thing about this recipe is that it doesn't make too much, which means no binge eating!

Instead of all purpose flour, you could even use buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, rye or something else, so that it can contribute to your daily grain needs! Which means it would be an extra awesome treat.

I apologize for the quality of the photos: I don't have access to my DLSR at the moment!

Recipe altered from Blissed Out by Sophie Fisher. I bought this book without realizing it wasn't completely vegan! Eggs are used A LOT. But here is an adapted version of her lamington recipe without eggs and altered quantity of ingredients.

Serves 1-4. Approx. 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes baking + 1 hour cooling: 2 hours.

For the sponge cake:
3 vegan eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer, and used their instructions for the powder to water ratio)
4 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup + 3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees.
2. Make your vegan eggs in a bowl, and whip until fluffy (1-2 minutes).
3. Add maple, vanilla, coconut oil and beat again for 1 minute.
3. Sift the baking powder and flour into the mix. Beat again for 1-2 minutes until combined.
4. Line a tin (I used 12cm x 12cm) with baking paper, and pour in the cake mix.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clear.
6. Cool cake for 30 minutes, then put in fridge for another 30 minutes.

For the jam filling:

3/4 cup frozen raspberries
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp chia seeds

1. In a saucepan on medium heat, combine the raspberries and maple. Mash them into a smooth mix.
2. Add in the chia seeds, mix. Then put in a jar and place in the fridge for an hour or so.

For the chocolate coating:

1/2 cup cacao powder
2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp maple syrup

+ 1 cup desiccated coconut

1. Combine the cacao, coconut oil, and maple in a bowl.

Assembly:

1. Cut your cake in half.
2. Spread the chia jam on one side.
3. Place the other half on top of the jam cake. Cut into desired sizes.
4. Spread the chocolate coating over the squares, then roll in coconut.

Now, I know I say all the time "this combination is magnificent", but really, if there is any two fruits that I wish had got together and made babies during the early stages of life on earth, it would be watermelon and raspberries. The next best thing however, is combining watermelon and raspberries as a popsicle. It's like a wonderful berry, that has all the amazingness of watermelon and raspberries, without the tart. Let's do this! This recipe makes approx. 5 small popsicles. I used this mould from Ikea ($2.99!) and it made 5 of these.

P.S. Merry Christmas everyone!

Approx. 10 minutes + 4-8 hours freezing time. Serves 5.

You will need:

2 cups of watermelon
1/2 cup raspberries

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender/food processor until smooth.
2. Pour the mix through a sieve to remove the seeds.
3. Pour into popsicle moulds, put in paddle pop sticks if using.
4. Freeze for 4 hours, or overnight.

The two fruits of summer: mango and raspberry, in a fruity cocktail that can only mean one thing: deliciousness. These two fruits are my new favourite match-made-in-heaven. The sweet mango balances out the tart raspberry, resulting in a party in your mouth. Plus, you only need two ingredients (can you guess what they are?) and no added sugar, which is always a tick in my book. And, it is easy.

P.S. the cookies in the photos are vegan gingerbread cookies, recipe from Minimalist Baker.

Approx. 5 minutes, up to 2 hours freezing time (depending if you use fresh or frozen fruit). Serves 1.

You will need:

2 peeled mangoes (approx. 1 cup of mango flesh)*
1 cup frozen raspberries

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until combined.
2. Serve immediately, or place in the freezer, checking every 30 minutes for it to harden up like a true sorbet.


*I like my mango to be fresh, as the juiciness of it allows it to combine in the food processor more easily with the raspberries. Kapeesh?

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't posted for a few days: towards the end of semester I got so busy that I was unable to come up with new recipes. But after my last exam on Thursday I saw an ad for watermelonade. The idea behind watermelonade is a watermelon flavoured lemonade. Radical, I know. My life was changed, but I figured the watermelonade advertised would be full of artificial flavours and sugar. So I decided to make one from real fruit and refined sugar free! And it's pretty damn delicious. I think it might be my new favourite summertime drink!

Serves 2, approx. 20 minutes to make then 1-2 hours chilling time

1 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 cups watermelon
1/4 cup lemon juice (approx. 1 large lemon)

1. In a small saucepan combine water and maple syrup on medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, set aside.
2. In a blender, blend your 2 cups watermelon. I always find that pressing the watermelon down in the blender releases the juice and helps it blend more easily.
3. Pour your watermelon juice in a sieve, removing any pulp and seeds.
4. Juice your lemon juice.
5. Combine all ingredients in a jug and whisk. You can either serve immediately or chill!

Wondering what the perfect thirst quencher is for those blistering hot summer days? Ice. It cools down your core temperature. That's why for this recipe, I decided to top the traditional banana ice-cream with a pineapple flurry! It's what I imagine someone would eat on a tropical island.

Serves 1, approx 2 h 10 minutes prep (2 hours freezing time)

You will need:

2 frozen bananas
1/2 cup pineapple juice (I juiced a pineapple myself to make sure there was no unwanted added sugar)
1 tbsp maple syrup (optional).

1. Pour your pineapple juice into a container. Add maple if needed. Mix. Place in the freezer for 2 hours. Check on it every half an hour and stir so that it doesn't turn into an ice block.
2. Combine your bananas in a food processor. If it won't mix, add some water (1tbsp - 1/4 cup).
3. Place your banana ice-cream in a jar, top with the pineapple flurry!

Spring is so wonderful at the moment (26 degrees!), which means soon it will be socially acceptable to eat ice-cream for breakfast. Not that it has stopped me! I thought I would give you a peak into my breakfast ritual: it is either ice-cream, pancakes, or peanut butter on toast. Though I usually go for the latter, I must admit my day feels better if I start it on a healthy note by having banana ice-cream! I apologize for the quality of the photos, they were taken with my iPhone in bad lighting.

Approx 5 minutes, serves 1-2 people

You will need:

3 frozen bananas
1 cup of frozen mango (or fresh if you have it, though it means the ice-cream will be softer).

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Serve! I topped mine with some blend co (I am yet to see if it is any good!).

Sometimes, a girl just needs chocolate. Something smooth and delicious that satisfies those unwanted cravings. At the moment however, I am making a conscious effort to try and have less sugar in my diet: eating lots of cupcakes, donuts and ice-cream apparently does not smooth down the waist line. But how does one combat those cravings? Why, healthy chocolate mousse of course! This quick recipe is full of protein, cacao and is refined sugar free! The perfect craving quencher.

Serves 2, approx. 5 minutes prep

You will need:

300 g silken tofu
2 tbsp cacao powder
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp almond milk


1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Serve!

I love summer. And pineapples! All the pineapples. This recipe only needs two ingredients, banana and pineapple, and it is super easy and healthy. You can put this in a freezer to let harden up, or serve immediately, in which case you will have a soft-serve. I may have been too impatient and opted for the latter!

Serves 1-2 people, approx. 10 minutes preparation.
You will need:

2 frozen bananas
1 cup of fresh pineapple (do not use the core!)

1. Combine ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
2. Serve! I served mine with kiwi fruit, watermelon and strawberries, so nom!

Chocolate and pear is seriously one of the greatest combinations. One of my favorite desserts is chocolate pear pudding, so scrumptious, rich, moist and decadent. Which is what inspired this sorbet, because chocolate and pear is really a match made in heaven. And guess what? This recipe is healthy, combining only three ingredients, and ridiculously easy! It is simply filtered water, pear and cacao powder.

Approx. 10 minute prep, 30 minute freezing time.
Makes 4 large scoops, serves 1-2 people.

You will need:

2 cups of chopped and frozen pears. You can peel them beforehand if you want: it really is your call, though studies have shown the skins of pears have more nutrients and antioxidants than in the flesh of the actual pear.
1/4 cup filtered water or coconut water
1 to 2 tbsp cacao powder

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, scrape down sides as necessary. It is best to start with one tablespoon of cacao, as adding too much can make a bitter taste, so do the cacao gradually!
2. Place in freezer for 30 minutes or until hard, and serve!

Yep, another cake! Ice-cream, vegan, banana, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and it is healthy! Here is pretty much another reason why bananas are a magical fruit: they make ice-cream, popsicles, smoothies, cakes, they can be used as an egg replacement in muffins, pancakes, cookies, donuts, and! You can even dehydrate bananas to make crepes. If you don't like bananas for some odd reason (or you're allergic, in which case I feel sorry for you), you are really missing out! But in the future I will try and make a soy or coconut cream based cake, to cater for everyone's needs!

You will need:

3 small frozen bananas (separated)
1/4 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup raspberries


+ a spring-form tin, approx: 5 cm high and 12 cm in diameter.

1. Strawberry layer: combine banana and strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Pour into a small spring-form cake tin and spread out evenly.
2. Blueberry layer: combine blueberries and banana in a food processor until smooth. Pour on top of the strawberry layer and smooth out.
3. Raspberry layer: combine raspberries and banana in a food processor until smooth. Pour on top of the blueberry layer and smooth out.
4. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.
5. Serve!

Okay, so the title kind of of super long, but it really does capture what this recipe is all about: raw vegan and gluten free chocolate tarts, covered in blueberry sorbet and topped with strawberries and banana, and more chocolate sauce. It is also refined sugar free. Delicious, I know. I made this during a breakfast experiment (I am trying to incorporate fully raw meals into my diet), and it is so yummy, I had to share it here! However, I wasn't taking progress shots like usual, because it was an experiment, so not only is some of the measurements a little vague, but I only have the one iPhone photo, so I hope that's okay!

Makes 4 chocolate mini tarts, approx. 20-30 minutes to make.

You will need:

For the chocolate tart:

5 pitted and soaked medjool dates (soak in warm water for 5 minutes!)
1 large handful of almonds
1 tbsp cacao powder
1 tbsp maple syrup

1. Combine all ingredients for the tart in a food processor until sticky and forms a ball.
2. Between two sheets of non-stick baking paper, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until around 5 mm thick. Using a large circular cutter, cut out 4 mini tarts. You might need to cut two, roll dough back together, and start again.
3. Place these tarts on a plate and in the fridge until ready.

For the blueberry sorbet:

1 large handful of frozen blueberries
1-2 tbsp water/coconut water

1. Combine blueberries in a food processor with water, add more water as needed. Scoop out into a bowl and place in freezer until ready to serve.

For the chocolate sauce:

approx 2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cacao powder

1. Place maple syrup in a small bowl. Slowly add the cocoa powder and mix until it reaches a smooth consistency. You might not need all the cocoa powder.

Assemblage:

4 chocolate tart bases
blueberry sorbet
3 chopped strawberries
1 chopped banana
chocolate sauce

1. Place one large spoonful of blueberry sorbet on top of each tart base.
2. Layer the strawberry pieces and banana on top of the sorbet.
3. Coat with chocolate sauce!
5. Serve!

After getting a lot of responses on instagram asking for the recipe of my vegan gluten free caramel mudcake donuts, I thought I would post them here. I actually made this recipe for a Loving Earth competition, so here's hoping that I win! I know that this is an ice-cream blog, but I was thinking of perhaps mixing it up a little, and adding different kinds of recipes? Let me know what you think! Anyway, these donuts are delicious and caramel-ly, vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free (well, except for the sprinkles, but you can all forgive a little sprinkle lovin' every now and again, right?).

Time: approx 50 minutes (15 min prep, 15 min baking, 20 minutes cooling)

Makes 6 large donuts

You will need:

For the donuts:

1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup LSA meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2 tbsp vegan margarine
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup maple syrup
50 g Loving Earth Caramel Choc Alternatively, you could also use 50 g of vegan white chocolate!

Icing:

50 g Loving Earth Caramel Chocolate. If you don't have access to caramel chocolate, you could dip it in white chocolate or making caramel icing; something like this.

Optional:

Vegan Sprinkles*

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius (fanforced)
2. Sift flours, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the melted margarine, almond milk, vanilla and maple syrup.
4. Melt 50g of caramel choc in the microwave in a bowl (at 30 second intervals) until smooth.
5. Add caramel to wet mixture and mix well.
6. Form a well in the dry mix. Slowly add wet mix to the dry until combined. Do not overmix.
7. Divide mix in a donut pan (keeping in mind it should make 6 largish donuts), and fill each 3/4 way up. Smooth out mixture if necessary.
8. Baking in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool donuts for at least 20 minutes.
10. Melt the remaining 50 g of caramel chocolate in the microwave, again at 30 second intervals. Dip each donut in the caramel, then top with sprinkles!
11. Serve! I served mine with a banana-cacao-maca-almond milk smoothie!



*Just kidding. They're not optional! Every donut needs sprinkles.

The vegan ice-cream cake has, for a long time, been on my to-do list. As my first try at this dessert, I decided to make it reallllly epic (despite the cake being a baby size). I am talking three layers of crazy flavour goodness, topped with dark chocolate shavings, berries and flowers kind of epic. Oh, and it is also healthy and you only need 4 ingredients! The verdict? Trust me, more ice-cream cakes will be coming your way...and I should cover cakes in flowers and berries more often! I fell in love with how it turned out, so I decided to share it here! I used a baby springform tin (5 cm high and 12 cm diametre), but I think if you times it by three (i.e. 3 bananas per layer), it should fit in your average cake-size tins.

Serves approx 4 people, 15 minutes preparation, 1-2 hours in freezer.

You will need:

3 large frozen bananas
1 tbsp cacao/cocoa
1-2 tbsp vegan nutella (i.e. any hazelnut/cacao spread: I used this)
1-2 tbsp almond butter

+ a spring-form tin, approx: 5 cm high and 12 cm in diameter.

1. Line the base of your springform pan with some baking paper (this will make it easier to remove the cake later on).
2. For the chocolate layer: combine one frozen banana and 1 tbsp cacao in a food processor until combined. Try not to add liquid, as this will make the cake harder to cut into etc. With a spoon, spread out the ice-cream into the springform pan. Try and make it as smooth as possible.
2. For the nutella layer: combine one frozen banana with 1-2 tbsp vegan nutella. Repeat, smoothing out this layer on top of the chocolate layer.
3. For the almond butter, combine one frozen banana with 1-2 tbsp almond butter. Repeat, smoothing out this layer on top of the nutella layer.
4. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.
5. Remove from tin  and serve! When serving, add some shaved vegan dark chocolate, cover with berries and edible flowers!

Neapolitan Ice-Cream is one of those quintessential desserts: though simple in design, merely layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, it is really effective at combining the best flavours of ice-cream together, so that you can either enjoy each separately, or all of them together. I decided to recreate a healthy, but no less delicious, version of this traditional ice-cream and to serve it in cute little mini cups, so they are kind of like cupcakes, but made of ice-cream! Moreover, this only uses three ingredients: banana, strawberries, and cocoa. This means no added sugar with all the benefits of eating bananas (e.g. high in potassium, rich in pectin which aids digestion and makes you more alert), strawberries (e.g. boosts memory, eases inflammation and anti aging properties), and cocoa (e.g. high in magnesium and antioxidants). So really, what may look like a delicious treat, is actually a healthy dessert in disguise!

Serves 4, approx. 15 minutes preparation and 2-3 hours freezing time.

You will need:

4 frozen bananas
4 strawberries
4 tsp cocoa/cacao

+ 4 cupcake patties/cups

1. Chocolate (bottom) layer: mix 1 frozen banana with 2 tsp cocoa in a food processor until smooth. Using a piping bag, pour the chocolate layer into the bottom of four cupcake patties/cups. You might need a spoon to help smooth it out.


2. Vanilla (middle) layer: pulse 1 frozen banana in a food processor until smooth. Place in a piping bag and pour on top of the chocolate layer of all four cupcake patties.


3. Strawberry (top) layer: combine 4 strawberries or more with 1 frozen banana until smooth. Place in a piping bag, and pour on top of the vanilla layer, using a spoon again to help smooth out the ice-cream.


4. Place in the freezer for an hour. You might want to use cling wrap on top of each ice-cream cup to reduce the ice-particles forming on top of the ice-cream.
5. For the top "icing" layer: combine 1 frozen banana with 2 tsp cocoa until smooth. Using a piping bag with a decorated nozzle, in a swirling motion (outside in) decorate the top.


6. Place in the freezer for another 1-2 hours.
7.When ready to serve, remove the ice-cream cups so you can see the beautiful layers!