ice cream Archives -

These mini Rainbow Frozen Fruit Cakes are simply stunning! In addition to being beautiful, they are made with 100% fruit and nothing else, making them a healthy and nutritious dessert.

Summer is winding down, but here in California, it is still hot, hot, hot!

Summer is my favorite season, and always has been. Maybe it’s because I associate summer with vacations at the beach, summer camp, and no school. I still get the end-of-summer blues even though I haven’t been back to school in quite a few years (ok, it has been WELL over a decade). haha.

When I think of summers past there are so many memories that come to mind, and being a food fanatic, many of them do involve something you can eat! Ice cream, Carvel ice cream cake, push pops and fruit popsicles are my favorite sweet and cool treats. What are yours?

The ice cream truck was another marvelous highlight of summer. The small white truck would rumble down our street playing the “ice cream jingle” and all the kids would come running, smiling from ear to ear. I remember standing in line and contemplating which frozen novelty I should get- perhaps a Drumstick? or the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar? Froz Fruit Bar with the whole strawberry chunks hidden inside? There were just too many to choose from, but you could never go wrong!

Froz Fruit bars were definitely one of my all time favorites! Does anyone remember those delicious pops? Strawberry, pineapple, and watermelon were some of my top choices in Froz Fruit flavors. Yum!

In honor of my undying love for Froz Fuit bars I have created these sweet and super cute 100% fruit mini cakes. If you have problems deciding on a flavor, no worries, because now you can have them all at once! Pick your favorite fruits and layer them to your liking.

They are made with 100% pure fruit, with no added sugar, so they are super healthy. I prefer to use frozen fruit, as opposed to fresh, as it tends to be sweeter and creates a more concentrated, less watery, frozen fruit cake.

I made these mini Frozen Fruit Cakes in ramekins for the perfect personal-sized cake, but you are welcome to make a large cake in a spring form pan if you wish!

And if you have leftover fruit, be sure to make some Frozen FRUIT ICE with the extras! Pour seltzer over this colorful and flavorful ice to make a healthy and fruity soda.

Happy Summer 🙂

Rainbow Frozen Fruit Cake

These mini Rainbow Frozen Fruit Cakes are simply stunning! In addition to being beautiful, they are made with 100% fruit and nothing else, making them a healthy and nutritious dessert.

1 bag of frozen strawberries
1 bag of frozen mango
1 bag of frozen pineapple
4-5 kiwis (couldn’t find them frozen)
1 bag of frozen blueberries

Allow your frozen fruit to thaw fully (or microwave it for a few seconds until thawed).
Grease 4 ramekins with a bit of coconut oil (or something similar) to make the cakes easier to remove.
Peel the kiwis and cut them into chunks.
Next blend each fruit separately in the blender, and place into separate bowls. Add a bit of coconut water if needed to blend,(but I did not need any) to get a smooth fruit puree.
If you want fruit chunks, set aside a few whole pieces of each fruit, and cut up into small chunks.
Layer each fruit puree in the ramekin to create a rainbow.
Freeze for 2+ hours or until fully set.
When you want to serve them dip the glass ramekin into a bowl of hot water for a few seconds to loosen the frozen fruit cake, and use a butter knife to gentle dislodge the cake.
Serve and enjoy!

This rich and creamy Chocolate and Banana Cream Ice Cream Cake is made in the blender with only 3 simple ingredients! No way? Yes way! You can whip this up in no time. It looks super fancy, and best of all it’s healthy! (dairy-free, paleo, vegan, gluten and grain-free)

My little (almost) one year old loves ice cream! He must of inherited my ice cream gene 🙂 haha. Now that he is eating solids it’s fun to see him try new textures and flavors. He is game to try just about anything, but if he decides he doesn’t like it, his mouth opens, and whatever was in there immediately gets projected and lands on either me, or the floor. Well, this never happens with ice cream. He is always eager for the next bite and grabs for the spoon with all his mite.

This summer my family has made a number of ice cream outings to beat the hot summer heat, and because my lo loves ice cream so much. I personally avoid eating a lot of dairy, but ice cream is an occasional treat I often can’t say no to. Plus, living in a new area, means you have an obligation do some exploring and figure out all the best ice cream places in town, right!?

Well, my family has found some pretty great ice cream joint around here!

Carmela’s is simply amazing. Their shop is simple, elegant and delicate. All organic, their ice creams are made in house with special care and attention. They have unique seasonal flavors, two of my fav’s being lavender honey and brown sugar vanilla bean- yum!

Equally as tasty, but at the other end of the ice cream treat spectrum is After Hours. This cool and hip ice cream parlor is located in a historic old-fashioned gas station. You go up to the window to order your “milky buns.” Oh, you don’t know what a milk bun is? That’s ok. I didn’t either. Basically you get to pick your ice cream flavor and topping and it gets sanwhiched beween two hot and sticky soft glazed donuts. It’s ridiculous. Ridiculously, crazy good! Is your mouth watering yet?

With all this ice cream eating going on I was feeling a bit guilty and sluggish thanks to extra sugar load, and I knew I had to clean up my act, so I made this: Banana Chocolate Cream Ice Cream Cake, and it’s delicious and SUPER HEALTHY. I can have a slice or two, and it’s guilt free. Best of all my little one loves it too!

This ice cream cake is super easy to make and contains only 3 simple ingredients: Coconut milk, chocolate chips (dairy free), and bananas- that’s it! Make sure to use a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) to blend the coconut milk and bananas on high. This will aerate the “ice cream” and keep it smooth and creamy as it freezes!

3 Ingredient Banana Chocolate Cream Ice Cream Cake

3 ripe bananas
2 cans coconut cream can of full fat coconut milk. I would recommend using 2 cans of coconut milk to replace 1 can of coconut cream) (you can find this at Trader Joes OR use only the cream from a (chilled)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used dairy-free Enjoy Life brand)

Combine 1 can of coconut cream and 3 bananas in a high speed blender and blend on high for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is frothy and smooth.
On the stovetop heat the contents of the other can of coconut cream in a small saucepan.
Add the chocolate chips into the saucepan, and mix vigorously until you get a smooth chocolate sauce, then remove from heat and let cool.
Meanwhile grease a 6″ round cake pan (a spring-form pan would be best for easiest removal!) with coconut oil.
Pour in 1/2 cup of the banana mixture, then 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture, then 1/2 cup of the banana mixture, then 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture, then another 1/2 cup of the banana mixture, followed by 1/4 cup of chocolate mixture, and finally add the reaming banana mixture to top it off. (If you want absolutely perfect layers freeze each layer for 10 minutes before adding the next.)
Set aside the left over chocolate mixture. You can store it in the fridge and reheat later.
Freeze the cake for 2+ hours.
When you are ready to serve the cake fill a large bowl with hot water.
Remove the cake from the freezer and dip the bottom and sides of the pan into the hot water for a few seconds. Then, if the ice cream cake isn’t free, glide a butter knife around the edges to dislodge it, and place it on a serving plate.
If its melting too quickly, place it back into the freezer to set, and heat the left over chocolate sauce over low-medium heat.
Pour the remaining chocolate sauce over top of the ice cream cake.
You can dunk a knife it hot water to aid in cutting the cake, and it may be easier to let it thaw 5-10 minutes if it’s too frozen to cut.
Enjoy!