Healthy Ice Cream? You bet! Ivy Thompson’s guilt-free Cherry Ripe Soft Serve (with optional hidden spinach) is a yummy alternative to fat and sugar laden ice-cream, with the goodness of hidden veggies.
It’s summer and the contents of the fruit-bowl seem to ripen quicker than usual. Want to learn a super-healthy trick to get rid of your over-ripe bananas? Chop them up and store them in an air-tight container in the freezer (a simple bowl with cling-wrap on top will also do). Then, when the time is right, make our ‘Cherry Ripe Soft-Serve’ for the kids. It’s healthy, made with nothing but real-food quality ingredients and tastes so good they are none the wiser.
The mix of cacao, cherries and coconut milk in this blender soft-serve recipe is a guilt-free version of a Cherry Ripe-bar. Once you have mastered the basic formula you can play with different flavours and ingredients; the trick to achieve the creaminess is the frozen bananas. The recipe is gluten- and dairy-free which also makes it suitable for kids with intolerances.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Ayam Coconut Milk
1/4 cup unsweetened plain coconut water
2 chopped, frozen ripe bananas
1/2 cup frozen cherries
2 tbs cacao powder*
1 tsp honey*, **
1 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of sea salt
Want to secretly make it even healthier? You can hide a generous handful of baby spinach in the mix without getting caught by fussy kids.
How about protein? Add 1/4 macadamia nuts for an added hit of filling protein and fats.
Method:
1. Add the coconut milk and coconut water to your blender/food processor, followed by the frozen ripe bananas, cherries, cacao, honey, vanilla and lastly the pinch of sea salt.
2. Increase blender-speed slowly till the mix reaches a smooth and creamy consistency (normally you have to blend/process on High for 20-30 seconds to achieve this).
3. Scoop the soft-serve into bowls. Put them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set it, then serve.
This recipe is a breeze to whip up in advance and is a hit with adults and kids alike.
Helpful Hint: By increasing the amount of liquid you add, this also makes for a fantastic Cherry Ripe-smoothie.
*We use raw varieties of these.
** Please note honey is not recommended for children under one year of age.
About the author: This recipe is a creation of Ivy Thompson of Paleo in Melbourne. Norwegian born but now residing in Australia, Ivy is a busy mother of three, with twin boys and little girl. She is passionate about inspiring and motivating people to live a healthier and better life. Her food journey began in 2011 when she created PiM to document her own lifestyle changes since ‘going Paleo’. PiM has since evolved into not only being the go-to source for all things Paleo in Melbourne, Australia, but also to become a well-recognised networking-hub. Click here to see all her recipes.
Paleo in Melbourne’s philosophy is to promote the events, products and services that support a nourishing Paleo lifestyle in Melbourne, Australia. We don’t get caught up in labels nor are we the “Paleo Police”, but we believe in healthy, unprocessed Paleo-foods and services that support the amazing machine that our bodies are. You can follow Paleo in Melbourne on Facebook, @paleoinmelbourne on Instagram and Pinterest.