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Welcome to I Scream Kitchen! This is a blog to inspire you to try new dishes and make your cooking experience a pinch more fun!

Sunday 24 July 2016

Vegan Avocado Chocolate and Banana Ice-Cream Melba


The heat has finally hit and we are currently enjoying the approximately 2-week long summer in Stuttgart, Germany. Long gone and forgotten are the times of optimistic new-year’s resolutions about healthy dessert-less eating and gym sessions n times per week (what was I thinking anyway). The results of my forgetfulness are ominously weighing over my head (and hips) like a big lard-shaped cloud J And to make things even better, it’s both bikini and ice-cream season, people…

Joking (and self-pity) aside, I have the belief that most people, me often included, put way too much importance on those 2 extra kilos (approx. 4.5 pounds for you American amigos), which bewitch us into obscene and cruel self-esteem destructing thoughts. What’s worse, it seems that the only thing that makes us feel any better is that evil ice-cream/chocolate/butter straight from the package (o.O); so much for vicious circles.  Most of us are not obese and that little extra love handle here or that thigh dimple there are not making us any less the attractive, awesome humans that we are. And, honestly spoken we could use this time we spend on obsessing about this stupidity on something a bit more useful, like learning a new language or browsing funny cat videos on the internet, to name a few.

That said, during a dinner party, one of my friends shared his disturbing experience watching a documentary on the terrifying health effects of sugar on the human body and the hidden sources of refined sugar, which made him quit eating fruit yoghurts, ketchup, etc. After going home, drunk on surprisingly good local wine and foolishness, my boyfriend and I googled around and watched a ton of documentaries on the subject (we should have stuck with the funny cat videos). Next day, he skipped on the 2 spoons of sugar in his coffee (an unshakable habit) and I, throwing an evil eye on the bbq sauce in the fridge, made my own sugar-free version.

After this dinner party, my interest in reducing refined sugar in my diet has really risen…unlike my sweet tooth. My solution has been to eat a lot more home-made and high on benefit-for-your-calorie meals and desserts, meaning food rich in fiber and vitamins, making eating it worth it, rather than stuffing myself with cake, which does nothing for my health. Often times, this approach also gives you the benefit of being a lot less lardening, as well J

One of my favourite recipes has been this healthy avocado chocolate mousse and banana ice-cream combination, which I served also to my “parents in law”. It left them slurping in excitedness like little children J This recipe doesn’t taste healthy, just purely delicious. The mousse can be used also as icing on top of cakes, it’s brilliant, nobody will know it’s avocado-based unless you tell them, trick your kids, people J.

If you made it so far, your patience is awarded by the amazing recipe:

Ingredients:

For the avocado mousse:

1 ripe avocado
7 tblsp unsweetened cacao powder
7 tblsp raw honey or maple syrup
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cinnamon
1 splash vanilla extract (I made my own)
1 splash water/your choice of milk (if necessary)

For the banana ice-cream:

2 ripe bananas (with little light brown flecks on them)

Garnish (optional):

Raspberries
Homemade jam (sour types fit better)
Cacao nibs
Maple syrup/coconut syrup

Preparation:


1. Peel and cut the bananas in small wheels, put in a sandwich bag to lay as flat as possible (1 layer) and freeze.

2. Put all your avocado ingredients in a kitchen robot/blender/food processor and blend until completely smooth. The amounts are just a guide. The goal is to add enough cacao powder and honey to no longer taste the grassy flavor of the avocado. Don’t skip the cinnamon even if you dislike it! The mousse doesn’t taste like cinnamon with just 1 pinch. It just helps degrassinate the flavour J if you feel the mixture is too thick, add either a bit of water or your choice of milk, be it animal or vegan and blitz.

3. Put the mixture in the fridge to cool down.

4. Put your frozen bananas in a kitchen robot/blender/food processor and start pulsing. After you have reached a crumby consistency, just continue on full speed until you get soft ice-cream texture.

The consistency of bananas, you are looking for (you can add anything you like for extra flavour like cacao or nut butter)
5. Arrange the banana ice cream and the chocolate mousse in a bowl or an ice-cream cone and garnish with your choice of fruit, syrups and nuts. My favourite combo is raspberries, coconut syrup or sour jam and cocoa nibs.

My scrumptious home-made ingredients: apricot jam from my mother in law, self-made vanilla extract and honey from my grandpa's bees.
6. Enjoy your guilt free treat!

The delicious end result

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