Banana Berry Icecream

This Banana Berry Icecream is so simple, yet so delicious.  It is vegan and lactose free and made from only two ingredients – yup, just two ingredients!  Using just banana and berries, you can make this healthy, frozen treat, which I have found just heavenly on the hot Summer afternoons we have had lately. 
The texture kind of a mixture between icecream, sorbet and frozen yoghurt.  I found it tasted quite sweet and it was hard to believe that there wasn’t sugar added in.  You could experiment with this recipe – maybe take out the berries and try adding mango, or try mixing through some chocolate syrup to make a banana chocolate treat.

5 bananas
1 cup frozen mixed berries

Thinly slice the bananas and place them in a container, in the freezer for 3 – 5 hours.
Place the frozen banana slices in a blender.  Add in the cup of frozen berries and then pulse together until smooth (I found using the ‘chop’ function on my blender the most effective setting).
You can serve immediately, or place in a sealed container in the freezer to firm up and eat later.

*Blender c/o KitchenAid.

Easy Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I don’t know if there is anything better on a hot summer’s day than a vanilla ice cream, especially if you make it yourself! This recipe is super easy, I remember making this ice cream with my Nana when I was quite young. She’s spent quite a bit of time in hospital in recent months and wasn’t sure where the recipe for this would be, so I’ve had to have a play and am incredibly happy with the result.

Ingredients:
600mls cream
395g condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Method:
Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Add the condensed milk and vanilla paste to the cream and continue to beat until very thick.
Scrape into a loaf tin (or similar that is suitable for freezing) and cover in cling wrap. Freeze overnight (at least 6 hours) before serving.

This recipe could not be simpler, it as fantastic by itself as well as making a delish side for the cheesecake in the picture above. Max (who is nearly 3!) enjoyed the ice cream just as much as I did, it was lovely being able to share a baking (well technically not baking, but you know what I mean) memory from my childhood with him.

Roast Tomato & Broad Bean Salad with Haloumi

I know, not baking, but hey – wotcha gonna do?  Simon and I made this last weekend to go with our dinner before we had the Raspberry and Ricotta Cakes.  The recipe comes from Foodtown Magazine, issue 56, December 2010 / January 2011.

Serves 12 as part of a buffet.

250g punnet of mini tomatoes, halved
olive oil spray
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g packet frozen broad beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
125g haloumi, sliced into ½ cm thick slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
130g packet baby spinach leaves
½ cup balsamic dressing

Preheat oven to 200˚C.  Place the tomato halves on a baking tray lined with baking paper.  Spray with the olive oil spray and season with the salt and pepper.  Roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes or until they are soft and lightly browned.  Remove the tray from the oven and set it aside for the tomatoes to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a medium sized saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the frozen broad beans, bring back to the boil and blanch the beans for one minute.  Drain, run the beans under cold water to cool, then peel them.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.  Add the haloumi slices and cook them for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden.  Sprinkle the cooked haloumi with the lemon juice.

Place the baby spinach on a serving platter.  Top with the tomatoes, broad beans and haloumi.  Drizzle over the balsamic dressing and serve immediately.

*Gluten free, Diabetes friendly :)

Summer Treat: Ice Cream Cake

 
I saw this in one of the weekly woman’s magazines a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go when we had Melissa and Simon over for a BBQ last weekend.

To make you will need:

1 small chocolate swiss roll
1L vanilla ice cream
1L chocolate ice cream
1 family sized bag of maltesers (155g)
100g of dark chocolate chopped
⅔ cup of cream
1 small handful of chocolate chips to decorate

1. Grease a 24cm round spring form cake tin then line the sides and base with baking paper.
2. Cut the swiss roll into pieces, approx 2-3cm thick each and arrange in a single layer over the bottom of the tin (tip – I broke up the left over pieces to fill any gaps).
3. Place the vanilla ice cream in a bowl and let it stand until it reaches room temperature and has just softened.  Mix it with a wooden spoon, add maltesers and stir through. Spoon this mixture over the chocolate swiss roll and place in the freezer until firm.
4. Place the chocolate ice cream in a bowl and again stand until it has reached room temperature and just softened. Mix with a wooden spoon and place it on top of the vanilla layer. Take extra care to make sure the top of the chocolate layer is smooth and place in the freezer until firm.
5. Place chocolate and cream in in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth, remove and cool then pour over the frozen chocolate ice cream and return quickly to the freezer where it must be left until set.
6. To serve you will need to remove the cake from the pan and slide it on to a serving plate. Decorate with the chocolate chips and let it stand for 5 minutes to soften slightly before cutting.

This cake can be made up to 4 days in advance and is sure to impress.  Enjoy!