insane raw chocolate-orange-apricot ice-cream!

[cara4art]

One of my single-serving experiments(in case any of these are a no-go) here - this is REALLY hard waiting for this to firm up in the freezer:

In food processor process:

some frozen banana chunks(about a banana's worth
1/2 tsp. of grated orange zest
1 tsp. almond butter
half of a large apricot
1 T. raw cacao powder(I like my chocolatey stuff strong, so you could use more or less to taste)
a pinch of salt(brings out other flavors)

OMG - this is like gourmet, artisanal ice-cream! Lately, I've been stopping by some new gourmet ice-cream joints in SF to take a look - I know, they're not raw but hear me out - to get some ideas for raw versions at home! At this one, there was chocolate-orange, and I thought that sounds so good I'm going to try that at home with frozen bananas etc.
I think in the discussion thread we had awhile back about "you know you're raw when" somebody brought it up about seeing a SAD dessert and thinking "I'll bet there's a raw way to do that!" - LOL!
I think this combo would work on top of a basic nut crust in a little tart pan for an amazing frozen dessert too! This is such FUN!

Just had to share this! And by the way, unlike eating regular ice-cream, I've dropped some more weight and the inches are starting to change too! How many people can say that with eating regular ice-cream every day? Raw totally RAWKS!

[RawKnitster]

Wow! Call me crazy, too. I'm putting an apricot on my shopping list.

Was it you that made the fudge (raw prietess brownie style) with grated orange zest? I tried that. It was awesome!

[cara4art]

Hi RawKnitster(love your username - what do you knit, by the way?)!
Yes it was me that put the orange zest in with RP's brownies. Orange and chocolate go GREAT together, and of course the vanilla finishes it off nicely too. Another good companion for chocolate, oddly enough is prunes - one could sub half of the date pieces with dried prunes and I think it would work - would have to try that myself on the brownie recipe. A trick that many people don't know when making some treats is that a little pinch of salt brings out the sweet flavors of the other stuff. Conversely, a bit of natural sweetening agent bring out savory flavors as well, I've found. You see, I was a creative food preparer even before going raw, but raw gives me even MORE room for what I like to get into!
But back to the ice-cream experiment - I chowed down on that little bowl - instant bliss! Will have to make a full batch in the not-too-distant future, as I'm sure that DH will love this just as much as I did. He's liked all my variations so far. Today I also made some blackberry-blueberry-banana "ice-cream" with coconut shreds - it's an intense reddish purple, and yummy!

[somelikeitraw]

OMG!
That chocolate orange ice cream sounds devine! What fun!

[RawKnitster]

I thought that was you. I put a little vanilla and a pinch of pink salt in the RP brownies, too. Makes a big difference. Your addition of orange zest was genious. I made them with pecans and medjool dates, and put a walnut on top of each piece. Tasted just like those chocolate covered orange sticks I used to be hooked on. Prunes sounds interesting. I'll have to give that a try.

I love being creative with food and yarn, separately of course. I knit just about anything that can be worn, socks, hats, scarves, shawls, sweaters, coats, and bags.

[snoops]

So you just blended it and put it in the freezer? Or did you use an ice cream maker?

[cara4art]

Hi snoops - for this I used my food processor, starting with the bananas, and then adding the other stuff. When I'm working with more wet fruit, I use my Blend-tec, blending the wet fruit first, and then adding the frozen banana chunks. Comes out like soft-serve, and to firm it up more I stick the mixture in the freezer in the mini-muffin pan, and if there's any left over, into a small serving dish.

[spicyfull]

Sounds like a RAWinner........Thanks for Sharing.

[somelikeitraw]

From another thread...


Food processor is way better, like Revell said. I made these, and used extra cacao powder since we like our chocolate things very bittersweet(European style). I jazzed up the mixture with some orange zest too which adds a nice finish, especially after they've sat overnight in the refrigerator. I rolled the batter into small truffles and then rolled those around in coconut. These were a hit at last month's dinner party I went to, along with my raspberry ice-cream bites!

and I am asking if you will please share your recipe for raspberry ice cream bites. Just the thought has me drooling!

[cara4art]

to somelikeitraw: my ice-cream recipes are not exact, but here it is:

a cup or so of mostly raspberries, can add some strawberries to stretch that out
3 cups of so of frozen banana chunks
1/4 or so each of raw cashews and coconut flakes
some vanilla extract

In high-speed blender, blend the cashews and coconut shreds, then set aside.
In the blender, blend up the berries, and add the other ingredients and blend on high speed. It will be like very soft soft-serve. Spoon out into silicone mini-muffin pan and stick in the freezer. For the bites that I took to that dinner party, I put some of the RP's brownie mix on the bottom of the cups, like 1/4" or less worth, and then spooned the raspberry-banana mixture on top. Set in freezer to firm up. Note: It's hard waiting for this stuff to firm up - LOL!

[somelikeitraw]

I am the same way with most of my recipes as well, nothing is exact.

WOW, do these sound heavenly! Especially on the brownie "crust".

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[somelikeitraw]

I love being creative with food and yarn, separately of course. I knit just about anything that can be worn, socks, hats, scarves, shawls, sweaters, coats, and bags.

Rawknitster - I found a book, although crochet, of patterns for making sushi out of yarn! Made me think of you! Didn't buy it, waiting for another payday.