Cashew Cacao Nice Cream

Beautiful summer days are a rarity in London, but this Summer has been rather kind so far (fingers crossed for the rest of it, pray to the sun gods and all of that). The most intense days of the June heatwave I couldn't even stand to be in the kitchen it was all just too hot! As any Londoner knows the very buildings of the city start to radiate heat. There's only one thing I'm eating on days like that picnics; in the park, (normally hummus and veggies and salad brought in a supermarket), but as the weather dropped below 30'c again I decided to make and photograph this nice cream. I then totally regretted not making it sooner, still my tan is coming along nicely.

Perfect for hot summer days, especially if you do it in advance, this stuff is so creamy and doesn't require many ingredients. Cacao powder is an ingredient that used to be limited to the health food shops but now is appearing more regularly in supermarkets. You could also sub it for standard coco powder.

Nice cream is the best vegan cheat to ice cream ever, it's so simple! If you don't know how to do this already, you will be shocked you didn't think of this sooner. It's frozen banana blended, and a little non dairy milk if needed. That's it, That's literally it. I added cashews to this nice cream to add to the creamy texture and because they are just super great for you. Cashews are rich in unsaturated fatty acids and numerous other beneficial compounds, including plant-based protein; dietary fibre; minerals like copper, zinc, maganese and magnesium. Cashews are a particularly good source of magnesium, which plays an important role in over 300 enzymatic reactions within the body including the metabolism of food and synthesis of fatty acids and proteins. Magnesium is also involved in muscle relaxation and has been linked to a healthy heart.

Ingredients

For the nice cream

4 bananas

150g raw cashews

2 tablespoons cacao powder

2 tablespoons non dairy milk (I used coconut, adjust the amount to suit your nice cream)

For the sauce

3 teaspoons cacao powder

2 teaspoons fruit syrup/ agave nectar

2 tablespoons water

To serve (optional)

Cherries

Cacao nibs

Desiccated coconut

Method

1) The night/ a few hours before you plan to make the nice cream soak your cashews in water. Simply place the cashews in a bowl and make sure you completely cover them with water.

2) At the same time slice your banana and place into a freezer bag. Place in the freezer.

3) Once soaked place the cashews in a blender along with the water they were in. Blend until smooth. Put this into a Tupperware container and place into the freezer.

4) Keep the cashews in the freezer for around 3 hours, stirring every so often. You don't want them to completely freeze.

5) Remove the bananas and the cashews from the freezer and place both into a blender, along with the cacao and a small splash of non dairy milk. Blend, adding more milk if needed.

6). In a small jug mix together the ingredients for the sauce.

7) After blending the nice cream you may want to place it back into the freezer for a little bit just so it firms up a little, this isn't 100% necessary you could just enjoy it straight away.