For those who love cold and creamy, leaving dairy behind was an easy transition to vegan ice creams. But if you look at the listed ingredients, we only took one small step forward, the fat and high sugar remained. If health is our goal, we need a new focus, more whole foods, less refined sugars. This “Nice Cream” as they call it, fits the bill and hits that cool creamy spot! The varieties you can make off this basic recipe are endless, and the experiments are fun and delicious. I always keep a couple gallon bags of frozen bananas for a quick or special treat — see freezing bananas.
If you do not want a strong banana flavor for your nice creams, use less ripe bananas and add more sweetener to your taste.
It can be eaten immediately for a very creamy soft serve, but preferably four or more hours in the freezer is best for a nice scoopable dessert. Although it is not necessary, the Xanthan Gum keeps it from freezing as hard, and it also adds the creaminess and mouth feel of real ice cream. This vanilla version is especially delicious served with the addition of fresh bananas.
For a lower-fat version, you can always make the nice cream with just 1/4 cup of dairy-free milk and no cashews.
¼ cup cashew cream* or 2 tbsp cashew butter and 3-4 tbsp of dairy-free milk — these should be emulsified together before using
1 tbsp sweetener of choice, opt.
2 tsp pure powdered vanilla for the vanilla version– Cook’s is a nice brand
4 cups sliced or 4 medium-sized frozen bananas, nice and ripe (skins with lots of spots but not black) **
1/4 tsp xanthan gum, opt.
*to make cashew cream you will need to blend one cup of milk with 1 cup raw cashews until smooth and creamy. Freeze what isn’t used for another time.