I first started learning how to make this YEARS ago. It's kind of a strange story, but essentially, there's an older couple out there who owes me a Champion Juicer, which they told me to put frozen fruits into along with bananas (either frozen or fresh, I don't remember which). Anyway, that experience inspired me to try again.
The blender I'm using is the Oster Fusion. In my opinion, loud and odd as it might come across - it's the best blender I ever used. I got it at Wal-Mart, though it didn't come with the extra food-slicing attachment. That's ok, I have a tomato holder and knives.
Anywho, I actually... Well, had a very bad morning this morning, and seriously needed some comfort food. So, I just threw a bunch of stuff together and accidentally came up with what I've spent years trying to duplicate without the Champion Juicer's help! I feel better already :) What I love about this recipe is that it's all natural, no significant added sugar (there were a few grains in the Stevia), and it's also fat free which means that it's not super-high-cal and off limits to me. I could probably have added some soy protein isolate to this, but wanted to eat something for once that's purely a desert and not something that tastes a little off for "health's sake." Health be damned! I wanted comfort food! And comfort food I certainly got :) And it's even healthy, even without the added vegan's perfect-protein, lol.
Some Important Notes
The best idea is to just buy a couple bunches of bananas, coin them to 1/2" thick coins, buy one of those 7 lb. boxes of bulk giant strawberries grown in CA and cheaply sold at Wal-Mart and then stem and quarter them, freeze the bananas in single layers per quart-sized bag, and the strawberries in maybe two or three layers per quart-sized bag, and then you'll have all the frozen bananas and strawberries you'll want throughout the May-September "West Coast Summer" season. Oh sure, you can call March-May "Spring" if you want... Haha. We had hail last night and the ground was dry by 10 am this morning and now it's a beautiful, hot, sunny day. You tell me what that is! Anyway, it's just best to catch the bananas and strawberries at their peak for both ripeness, size, and sales: in mid-late April, and then just prep and freeze 'm all at once. You won't regret it, and you'll gain back your freezer space in no time, once you've had this tasty treat ;) Especially if you have kids. In fact, you can even make the liquid heated ingredients ahead of time as well, and just freeze those (after cooling them) in ice cube trays, and then it's all good to go at the last minute. Total prep time for a WCS season? About an hour.
Honestly, of everything I've ever made, I think I'm most proud of this one recipe, simply because I've waited so long to finally come up with it. And what's so hilarious is that I really wasn't trying for anything like ice cream at all. I figured I was just making another smoothie. This is sort of like a smoothie - but not. It's a LOT more like real soft-serve ice cream. I haven't tested it for freezing yet, and would probably need to add some almond butter to it in order to make it less likely to turn into a solid block when frozen over night. But I do suspect that re-chilling it after first making it would bring it to a more "real ice cream-like" and solidified state.
Frozen Ingredients
2 1/2 C Frozen banana coins, 1/2" thick, single layer when in freezer
2 1/2 C Frozen Strawberry quarters, stemmed & prewashed/dabbed dry before freezing
Liquid Heated Ingredients
1 C Almond Breeze Original Almond Milk
1 tsp. Fair Trade Vanilla
2 T Dagoba Fair Trade Cocoa
4 Pkgs. Stevia
1 T Fair Trade Coffee Grounds
Tea Ingredients
1 bag Celestial Seasonings Red Tea (With Vanilla)
1 bag Celestial Seasonings Goji Berry Pomegranate Green Tea
Instructions
1. Pre-freeze the strawberries and bananas for at least 6 hours in ziplock freezer bags. Ideally at least 12 hours.
2. Over medium-high heat, bring liquid heating ingredients almost to a boil.
3. Strain hot liquid into a large mug (at least 2 cup capacity).
4. Steep tea in the hot liquid for about 3 minutes, then pull out tea bags and lightly squeeze their remaining liquid back into the cup.
5. Allow liquid to cool at least to room temperature, but refrigerating it until cold, then freezer-chilling it for about 5 minutes is better.
6. Place 1 pint frozen strawberry chunks, then 1 pint frozen banana chunks in the Fusion blender, in that order, then pour the cooled liquid over the frozen fruit chunks, cover the blender top and then use the "frozen drinks" setting and a rubber spatula (stop the machine often, and before using the spatula, to help rotate the frozen chunks), to create an ice cream like consistency.
7. Use the lowest regular setting (furthest down button on the right) to make the Vegan Fruit Cream a bit smoother. A higher setting is not recommended, due to wear and tear on the motor and also because the fruit cream will melt too quickly.
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