Project 7: “Nice Cream”

Ice cream is most definitely one of my favorite foods – next to: raspberries, lemons, chocolate mousse, pickles and eggplant parm. Refined palate, I know. In grad school, I was known for bringing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s to my Thursday night classes for dinner. Over time, I realized that if I wanted to eat ice cream almost daily in the summers, I probably needed a slightly less sugary alternative to Ben and Jerry’s. Insert: nice cream.

Quick project summary: Before hopping on the increasingly popular nice cream train, I did some research and compared a few different recipes. This post was helpful for technique and also helped me confirm I didn’t need to buy a “yonanas” machine to help me make the recipe.

Unlike what the post above says though, I actually cut my bananas before I froze them and thought this made things a bit easier. I’d also personally recommend not freezing the bananas until they are completely solid. I found it was much easier to get the consistency I wanted if the bananas were mostly but not entirely frozen. To start the nice cream off, I blended the bananas alone first and then adding my mix ins.

I opted for a few different flavors – some more like traditional ice cream and some a bit more sorbet-like in case the bananas didn’t give me the creamy consistency I was hoping for. Here’s what I choose:

-Raspberry mint ice cream: blend frozen bananas, add in some frozen raspberries and fresh mint and blend some more! Top with fresh mint.

-Vanilla peach: blend frozen bananas, add in frozen peaches, vanilla, and a little cinnamon and blend some more. Top with peach slices. (You could probably make this one boozy with a little bourbon and it would be super tasty).

-Chocolate chip vanilla: blend frozen bananas, add in vanilla and cinnamon, blend some more. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Top with mini chocolate chips (all the chocolate, puhhlleeassee).

Things I loved about this project: The consistency of the nice cream was everything I hoped for and more – actually creamy and pretty darn close to real ice cream (let’s be honest, not as good as Ben and Jerry’s or more importantly, as good as Dairy Godmother in Del Ray but not bad for a no added sugar substitute). I also loved how refreshing this was and the option to make the flavors as strong as I wanted them.

What I would do differently: I think this is a hangover from my youth but I don’t like chunks in my yogurt or ice cream – this meant I didn’t enjoy the peach quite as much as the other flavors. The peach was definitely a little less well blended as you might be able to tell from the pictures above. I’d also love to try making a mint chocolate chip with lots of fresh peppermint and maybe some chocolate shavings. Finally, nice cream is definitely best served pretty close to making it OR it needs to sit out of the freezer for a bit before being ready to eat (of course, if you lack patience like me, you can also do about 15 seconds in the microwave) – much like halo top or other alternative ice creams this stuff gets very hard in the freezer.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Hosting monthly wine club with friends (pre social distancing, of course)

-Listening to By the Book podcast