Ice Cream, Gelato and Blended Fruit

Before the weather turns colder and I start eating soup everyday, I want to write about ice cream.
Hands down, my favourite flavours are mint chocolate chip and stracciatella. It’s hard to pick just one flavour and so if I’m feeling really greedy, I sometimes get two scoops – evidence below from an ice cream shop in Palma, Mallorca.

As much as I’d eat rich creamy ice cream until the cows come home, I actually prefer gelato. I used to think gelato was just the fancy Italian word for ice cream – which it is! – but it’s also a denser, milkier kind of ice cream.

After a quick search on the internet, I found gelato has less fat than ice cream as it uses more milk than cream. It is churned less and at a much slower pace than traditional ice cream. Gelato is usually served 15 degrees warmer than ice cream.

If I buy any kind of ice cream from the supermarket, I will eat it everyday until it’s all gone. Therefore, I have since learnt a more sensible, controlled approach is to only eat it when I am on holiday (i.e. in Mallorca) or out and about and can only purchase one serving.

At home, I created a healthy, all-natural, and easy alternative. I like to call it ‘banana-strawberry ice cream’, but it’s really just blended frozen fruit! My version is creamy and sweet but doesn't contain dairy or added sugars. I'm sure you could make any kind of banana-berry ice cream - blueberries would be tasty...

Ingredients:
- 1 banana (125g / 4.5oz)
- 75g / 2.6oz strawberries

Method:
Slice banana into 4-5 pieces.
Chop the strawberries.
Place fruit  in a ziplock/freezable bag and freeze for a few hours.
Add frozen fruit to a food processor and blend together until soft and creamy.

Nutritional Information:

I also made a chocolate ice cream version using chocolate pudding from another recipe.