ice cream

Vegan Chocolate Nice Cream with raw chocolate Cake chunks

It is time, to get your nice cream balls rolling again, baby!

You probably remember the N’Ice Cream book by me and my co-author Tuulia Talvio that was launched exactly a year ago, first in Finland and in the US and then later in the year in 6 countries, like in France, German and Chroatia. The book has found it’s home in the arms of so many healthy ice cream lovers around the world that it is hard to even realize. So thank you! There is no better feeling than when your passion inspires people, makes an impact and is even a part of a cultural change (the ever so lovely ice cream culture), like now for example when we’ve been witnessing many big brands bringing out their vegan ice creams with better sweeteners after the last summer in Finland.

We have not been talking about an ice cream revolution for no reason! * raised fist emoji *

To give it even a stronger boost we have now launched this Deluxe Edition of the Finnish N’Ice Cream book – as an ebook – with 10 new bonus recipes in it, which means now over 90 recipes for lovely delicious vegan, gluten free and naturally sweetened ice creams. And you can get it only for 8,90 euros.

Note, that this Deluxe Edition is only available in Finnish and as an ebook and you can download it here. We’ll try to find a way to get these bonus recipes out also in English in some form asap!

But so that you international readers won’t have to return with empty hands, here’s one faaabulous nice cream flavor for you to exploit: Deluxe Chocolate Nice Cream with Peanut Butter Swirls and Raw Chocolate Cake Chunks! I came up with it by accident when I decided to blend together chocolate mousse (from my Chocolate Pizza Post) and frozen banana. So freakingly delicious. Then I also stirred in some raw chocolate cake chunks and peanut butter swirls and I honestly almost started to cry when tasting it. That’s what pure pleasures can do to you. 

When scooping balls from this nice cream a song by Barry White, Can’t get enough of your love, babe, started playing in my mind:

“I’ve heard people say that
Too much of anything is not good for you, baby
Oh no
But I don’t know about that
There’s many times that we’ve loved
We’ve shared love and made love
It doesn’t seem to me like it’s enough
There’s just not enough of it
There’s just not enough
Oh oh, babe
My darling I, can’t get enough of your love babe…”

 

That kind of sums up the whole essence of this nice cream. You just can’t get enough of it – And you don’t even have to. As good stuff makes good to you.

V

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Vegan Deluxe Chocolate Nice Cream

Serves 3

(vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free)

 

½ cup steamed sweet potato pieces

¼ cup cashew nuts, soaked for about 1 hour

3 fresh dates, pitted

¼ cup almond milk, or other dairy free milk

4 tbsp raw cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

 

3-4 frozen bananas

 

peanut butter

raw chocolate cake chunks

 

Place steamed sweet potato sliced, cashews, dates, almond milk, cocoa powder, vanilla ja coconut oil into a blender and blend until tick mousse. Add frozen and sliced bananas. Blend until soft serve. If your blender is small you can do this in two or three batches. Pour the soft serve in a big freezer safe container. Mix in the raw cake crumble and pour over some peanut butter. Freeze for about 30 minutes or until the mixture gets a bit harder. Serve and enjoy!

 

Raw Chocolate Cake Chunks:

½ cup gluten-free rolled oats

½ cup almonds

3 fresh dates, pitted

4 tbsp raw cocoa powder

a pinch of sea salt
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until crumble. Taste and add sweetener if needed. The dough should be quite dry but easily moldable. Roll into small chunks with your hand and sprinkle the nice cream batter with the chunks.

More Nice Cream recipes in the N’Ice Cream cookbook by Virpi Mikkonen & Tuulia Talvio

It’s always so fun to watch how people have different ways of reacting to the first rays of spring sun here in the North. After a long and dark winter people get so cute with their excitement. Some switch immediately into their light jackets and start to trip along with their small spring shoes even though the ground is still completely frozen. (Ok, that was totally a granny thing to say, but I’m a person who just hates to freeze and keeps her pantyhoes on until June. So yeah, I’m a granny.) And some optimistic people, like my dear partner, switches the summer tires on. And then go travel with the tram or taxi when the snow suddenly decides to return. (Like it tends to happen and like it also happened last weekend.)

 

And then there are people like me, whose first thought is: Ice Cream! It really is some chemical reaction that happens in my brain: Sunrays --> Must make nice cream.

 

During the last week I have managed to make nice cream from many different kinds of ingredients, for example from purple yam aka Ube. The color was so amazing so it just yearned to be blended into a nice cream. Check it out from my Instagram

 

The same thing happened a few days ago when I received a box of smoothies and breakfast bars from Semper. Naturally they started a new life as a nice cream. Well, some of them. Most of the bars ended up in the “quick snack stash” in our car and the smoothies in our refrigerators “panic shelf”, which is our family’s life saver. We are just so bad in routines, meal planning and all that wise adult stuff and the mealtimes manage to surprise us almost every time. Plus we usually move with super short notices so everything that is healthy and easy to grab along is totally needed in our household.

 

One of our favorite snacks are nice creams that can always be found in our freezer. Either we make nice cream from frozen bananas with frozen berries or fruits or almond butter or then we enjoy smoothie popsicles. It’s fun to have the familiar breakfast/snack, as in yogurt with berries and granola, in a form of an ice cream. The kiddo loves it and I don’t have to feel guilty for giving her ice cream or two as a evening snack. Win/Win. 

 

Oh, and all the nice cream lovers in Finland – or people who understand Finnish – the Finnish version of the N’Ice Cream book by me and Tuulia Talvio is coming out as an ebook in a month with some new bonus recipes. So stay tuned, if you wish to download a huge package of nice cream recipes into your phone or computer. In the meantime you can start your Summer of N’Ice Cream with these popsicles!

 

V

 

In collaboration with Semper 

 

Almond Yogurt:

2 cups raw almonds (soaked overnight or 3 hours)

2 ½ cups water

2 tbsp raw organic honey or maple syrup

1 probiotic capsule OR 1 package vegan yogurt starter OR 3 tbsp unflavored vegan yogurt with active bacterial culture

1 – 3 tsp agar agar (if you want your yogurt to be thicker)

 

Blend the soaked and strained almonds, water, and sweetener in a blender until smooth. Strain the mixture with cheesecloth on top of a bowl, so that you get a nice white almond milk. You can use the leftover almond pulp for example in crackers or bread rolls. If you want your yogurt to be thicker, add agar agar and boil the almond milk in a pot carefully for about 5 – 7 minutes. Take the pot from the stove and let it cool  down (to a body temperature). Pour in the probiotics and mix. Pour the yogurt into a sealable clean (boiled or washed in a dish machine) and dry glass jar. Close the jar with a lid or cover with a cheesecloth and a rubber band. Turn the oven light on, but do not heat the oven. The oven light should keep the oven warm enough for the yogurt. Place the yogurt in the oven with the light on and leave the yogurt to set for about 8 – 12 hours. The longer you let the yogurt ferment, the stronger and sourer the flavor will be. Store the yogurt in an airtight container/jar in the refrigerator.

 

Berry mixture:

-Blueberries, apple, fresh mint leaves and rolled oats OR Semper Fruit & Oat Blueberry, Apple, Mint Smoothie 

-Raspberries, pear, rolled oats OR Semper Fuit & Oat Raspberry, Pear, Aronia Smoothie

 

Add a big handful of berries, handful of rolled oats and a sliced fruit into a blender and blend until you have a thick and smooth smoothie. Add a drop of water if needed.

 

Oat Crumble:

1 cup rolled oats

3 fresh dates or ¼ cup organic raisins (soft and moist, not dry and hard)

1 tsp dried berry powder

OR 2 Crumbeled Semper Soft Oat Bars 

 

Blend the rolled oats and dates or raisins in a blender into a crumble or puree with a stick mixer.

 

Assembly:

Pour some almond yogurt into a bowl and add a few tablespoons of berry mixture. Stir gently few times so that you get nice swirls. Slice in some fresh berries if you like. Pour the mixture into a ice pop molds but leave a small space for the oat crumble. Fill the molds with the oat crumble or crumbled oat bars, add sticks and put into a freezer.

In collaboration with Semper.

 

The time has come!! The N’Ice Cream book about healthy vegan ice creams by me and Tuulia has come out today in the US. And I’m over the moon excited! The Finnish version of the book got sold out in a week here in Finland and I hope the international audience will love the English version just as much.

Several people have now said to me that the N’Ice Cream book feels like the ultimate summer saver for them, and that makes me sooo happy. Because that is exactly what this book was designed to be. To enable a feel-good summer with healthy, naturally sweetened and gluten-free vegan ice creams, ice pops, sorbets, soft serves, instant ice creams, ice cream cakes & cookies, waffle cones, sauces, jams and all that jazz. And also our very best tips on how to prepare delicious ice cream easily without an ice cream maker.

You can now buy the book from:

If you like to have more n’ice cream inspiration, come and follow our Instagram: @nicecreambook where we share pics & tips and give shout-outs to peoples beautiful nice cream creations. Be sure to tag your n’ice cream photos #nicecreambook and @nicecreambook so that we can see them!

And now, ladies and gents, I'm happy to introduce these treats I have for you: Lovely lovely Vanilla Chocolate N’ice cream Sandwiches that I made inspired by a couple of recipes from the N’Ice Cream book. They just might be the perfect summer snack. And the perfect way to celebrate the launch of our book. Note that you can always just skip the cookies and make the instant ice cream base and enjoy it with this super quick chocolate sauce, if your ice cream cravings won’t wait!

And then there’s still one more thing: A giveaway! I’m giving away one copy of the N’Ice Cream book. Just write a short hello and why you would like this book to the comments below and you’re in! You’ve got time to participate until midnight Sunday the 22nd of May. And the giveaway is this time open to US, Canada & Finland. Good luck, my friends!

V

VANILLA N'ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

About 4 big or 6 small pieces

Vanilla n’ice cream:

  • 3 ripe bananas (frozen)
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk (kept in a fridge overnight)
  • ½ tsp vanilla powder

Slice bananas into smaller pieces and put into the blender. Open a coconut milk can and scoop the white thick paste (about 2/3 cup) into the blender with bananas. Add vanilla. Mix until smooth. If your blender is not very powerful prepare the ice cream in two baches. Pour the ice cream mixture in a large freezer-safe tin and freeze for about 15-30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the cookies.

Chocolate Cookies:

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 4 tbsp raw cocoa powder
  • 3 tbsp flax meal
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp vanilla powder
  • 8 tbsp water
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup or coconut syrup

Preheat the oven to 175 C / 350 F degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add water and melted coconut oil and syrup. Mix. The dough should be now easily moldable. Add a bit more water or flour if needed. You should be able to make a big ball out of the dough with your hands.

Place a dough ball between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out to ½ inch thickness. Cut the dough into rectangles with a knife or use a cookie mold. Place the cookies gently on a baking tray covered with a baking sheet. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely. The cookies can be a bit soft when you take them from the oven because they will get crispier as they cool.

Chocolate frosting:

  • ½ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tbsp raw cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp coconut syrup

Mix the melted coconut oil, cocoa powder and coconut syrup in a small bowl.

Assembly:
Scoop about two spoonfuls of the ice cream and place it on the back side of one cookie. Place another cookie on top of the ice cream and press down gently. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Drip some chocolate frosting on top on the sandwiches and sprinkle some shredded coconut on. Freeze for 30-60 minutes. Enjoy!

MORE HEALTHY VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES FROM THE N’ICE CREAM BOOK

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Hello, Love!

I have been waiting so eagerly to tell this to you. And now I can finally announce:
The hottest – or should I say the coolest cookbook of the summer is now available for PRE-ORDER! And – there is a magnificant pre-order gift, too!

Hooray, it is really happening, my friends! I’m so happy to launch this!

So as I mentioned in my previous post, N'Ice Cream – the healthy vegan ice cream cookbook by me and Tuulia Talvio will be out May 17 by Avery Publishing, Penguin US. There’s gonna be over 80 delicious recipes for healthy vegan ice creams without gluten, dairy and refined sugar. …Creamy ice creams, ice pops and sorbets, instant ice creams, ice cream cakes & cookies, waffles, sauces and jams, you name it. THIS BOOK covers it all when it comes to wholesome ice creams!

And as a thank you we wanted to make you something special. So when you pre-order N'Ice Cream cookbook now, you'll get this delicious gift:

GATHER e-book with over 30 recipes for your wholesome, easygoing, plant-based summer parties.

Oh yes, baby, it is true! By pre-ordering N'Ice Cream now you'll get this luxurious digital cookbook totally FREE. (Or if you’ve already pre-ordered the book – Thank you! – the offer includes you too.) Gather is not available in any other places so pre-ordering is really the only way to get your hands on this summery piece. And note also that the gift book comes as a pre-order gift only with the N'Ice Cream cookbook, so it is not included with the Finnish version, Hyvän olon jäätelökirja, which will be out in stores in Finland already in about 2 weeks.

GATHER E-BOOK OFFERS:

  • More than 30 original healthy plant based recipes for your summer get-togethers

  • All recipes are vegan, free from gluten, dairy & refined sugar

  • Recipes for savory snacks, sweet desserts and fresh drinks

  • Tips for organizing a stress-free party

  • A full-size color image for every recipe

The book includes recipes such as Falafels & Cashew Sour Cream, The Vegan Party Platter, Flaxseed chips & Creamy Dip, Sweet Potato Mini Pizzas, Nut-free Blueberry Pie, Divine Raw Chocolate Cake (presented below!), Apricot Cookies and Nut Fudge, Summer Pancake Cake, Brazilian Lemonade, Melon & Lime Aqua Fresca and many many more! And note, that all these recipes are totally new and original, not posted anywhere else before.

Check out more about Gather e-book and how to pre-order and get your gift HERE.

Oh and hey, I recommend warmly to subscribe to Vanelja’s newsletter asap, as there is coming some great weekly giveaways, bonus recipes, playlists and everything wonderful to get you in summer vibes & ice cream mood!

Come and follow also our official Insagram page of N’Ice Cream. A really nice giveaway is coming in our IG page already today, so hurry. We are waiting for you! 🙂

N’ICE CREAM HOT LIST:

And before I leave you to enjoy the Divine Raw Chocolate Cake from Gather I have to say that we are AMAZED by all the support we have been getting from people to help to spread the news about this book. From people we know and from total strangers too! We are grateful for all the help we can get to spread the word of n’ice cream and healthy ice cream revolution.

If you feel like you would want to help in any way we would be so so happy! Like by sharing this post, the N’Ice Cream preorder gift, N’Ice Cream Instagram posts or anything else. Or if you are a blogger and would want to share some ice cream tips, some photos, bonus recipes or a small feature / interview, please send us an email to nicecreambook@gmail.com and we’ll got you covered!

And now, finally. The cake. The Divine Raw Chocolate cake. It is a-bliss. Please enjoy!

V

DIVINE RAW CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ok, wow. Do I have some BIG news for you people. Big, creamy, delicious and heavenly news. And yes, it is about ice cream, and it is about books. As I bet you guessed already from the photo.

So, remember the e-book about healthy ice creams we did last summer with my friend Tuulia, that was called Kind Ice Cream for You? Yep, the cute little pink book that became surprisingly popular during the summer. Well, we thought that the e-book would have been just a nice little summer project for us, but life had bigger plans for it.

As it happened, one brilliant book agent found our e-book through my friend Jessie’s blog post (Jessie, you girl are pure gold! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing that post!) and asked if me and Tuulia were interested in making an actual book out of our e-book.

And oh-my-god, OF COURSE we were!

So one thing lead to another and now I am SO PROUD and SO HAPPY to announce that our cookbook about healthy vegan ice creams is gonna be out in the US in May 17th and it goes with a name N’Ice Cream. The publisher of the book is the ever so lovely Avery, part of Penguin Random House which is one of the biggest book publishers in the world.

So there we are now with our ice creams sharing the home with Nobel prize winners and biggest best-sellers in the world.

So crazy. So so crazy amazing! N’ice cream, I scream, everybody screeeam!

There you can see the cover of N'Ice Cream on the right hand side on the first photo. That one is gonne be seen in bookstores all around North America and Canada. The cover photo on the left hand side is from the Finnish edition called Hyvän olon jäätelökirja, that will be out in the middle of May in Finland through Cozy Pyblishing.

So it’s gonna be healthy, vegan and super easy ice creams for all the people around the world soon! And we are just so overly excited here and can’t wait them to come out. We feel we have done something revolutionary with this piece and that the recipes in the book have an actual potential to make this world a little better place. Maybe we’ll too get a Nobel nomination from it. Haha!

But really, as Don Kardong put it: "Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos." So ice cream IS plain good, and healthy ice cream is even better.

And if you wanna join this ice cream parade beforehand, you can go and pre-oreder N'Ice Cream already from these places:

I can tell you that there is going to be a super duper nice gift for people who will pre-order the book and it will be the perfect companion to N’Ice Cream. But more about it next month!

Also, be sure to sign up to my NEWSLETTER because there’s gonna come some brilliant material to subscribers during this spring.

And finally, before I wrap this up, I want to thank deeply everyone who supported us with this project in any way, purchased our e-book back in the days and shared the love – there's some good karma coming your way!

So, we are living wonderful times, my friend, and the upcoming spring is gonna be filled with possibilities for all of us. Lets keep the light up!

V

I have to say my life is super full at the moment. Actually even a little bit too packed for my taste. My calendar is full with work, meetings and photoshoots, my hands are full with things to do both in home and also in work field, and my head is crowded with stuff I need to remember and take care of. Surprisingly, even though it usually never goes together with a hectic life, my heart is full also – and it is just bursting with gratitude!

One reason for that is this unforgettable incident I had last week in New York at the Saveur Food Blog Awards where Vanelja was nominated as one of the finalist. And you can’t believe this – the craziest thing happened: Editor’s Choice for Best-designed Blog! As in Vanelja was picked to be the winner by the editors from the almighty Saveur magazine!

high-fives with my graphic designer friends Leena Oravainio & Lotta Niemien who helped to build this site and with all you followers, readers and lovely friends and supporters! You guys made this happen!

It is such a huge honor and such a recognized award that I am still totally overwhelmed and it is still hard for me to understand that it actually happened. The whole event, the award, all the amazing people and fellow bloggers I met. The whole experience was like from a dream. Especially when I was totally jet-lagged and was feeling quite surreal even in the first place.

So now, we need to party. Because that's what we people do when something big comes our way – we celebrate and throw a party to mark these big happenings and changes in our lives to somehow make them feel more real, right? First we ask someone to pinch ourselves and then we party.

And because it is summer and I’m just all about ice creams at the moment, as our e-book about healthy dairy-free & refined-sugar-free ice creams, Kind Ice Cream for You just got launched last week, I decided that we celebrate with ice cream. Yay!

This one is an adaptation of one “Instant Chocolate Ice Cream” recipe from our book which can be enjoyed as a soft serve or as a more solid ice cream. I chose to flavor it with a little bit of rum and raisins just to make it more festive. And because rum & raisin is my all time favorite ice cream flavor. And well, because alcohol just gives a nice boost to certain occasions. Though here the rum is first brought to a boil so there’s no change/risk of getting tipsy. …Although, you just might do it anyways because of the intoxicating raw chocolate and the super rich flavor!

So enjoy, live life to it’s fullest and celebrate all the big and small treasures life throws to you. For example now with these luxurious party ice cream balls flying your way!

V

Remember to follow me on Instagram and tag your ice cream photos with #kindicecreamforyou or #kindicecream!

RUM & RAISIN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

  • 3 frozen bananas
  • 5 tbsp rum
  • 2 tbsp almond liqueur
  • 3 tbsp organic raisins
  • 1,5 tablespoon raw cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp organic honey (or coconut syrup, stevia or sweetener of your choice)
  • 2-3 tbsp almond milk (or other milk), if needed
  • 3 rkl raw cacao nibs

Peel the bananas and cut them into small coins. Put the bananas into an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight. In the meantime pour the almond liqueur and rum into a small pot ja bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and add raisins to the alcohol mixture and let marinate until the bananas are frozen.

To make the ice cream, add bananas into a blender and pulse until a crumble forms. Keep on pulsing until the bananas start to form a smooth texture. You might have to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times. Add the marinated raisins, chocolate, vanilla and sweetener and keep on pulsing until you get a smooth and creamy ice cream texture. Mix in the raw cacao nibs and stir with a spoon. Scoop into a bowls, serve and enjoy! If the ice cream melts too much while you process it, you can freeze it a little bit before serving.

* More healthy, dairy free ice cream recipes in Kind Ice Cream for You e-book!

It has arrived! Our e-book about healthy ice creams is finally out! And I must say that I am deeply and utterly in LOVE with it. Hands down, it must be the loveliest cook book I have ever encountered. And that is my totally objective opinion. If me and my partner-in-crime Tuulia Talvio would have not made it I would still love it to pieces! Hahaa!

But the most amazing thing for me here is how this book took even myself by surprise. Because when we started making it this winter I would have never guessed that it would become so big, beautiful and comprehensive as it is.

First we planned to make just a nice small e-book about healthy, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free and gluten-free ice creams with few nice recipes with few nice pictures. But the project kept on growing and growing until one day we realised that we have a real book in our hands, well, on our computer screens – with 130 pages and over 60 recipes, great pictures – and last but not least, a beeeautiful layout, thanks to my dear friend, a super talented graphic designer Leena Oravainio.

So here I am now, super proud, deeply happy and a little bit teary over our kind and beautiful new-born book, Kind Ice Cream for You. And I really want you to meet her, so go ahead and
read more about it in the book’s official website: www.kindicecream.com.

You can buy the book through my SHOP or through www.kindicecream.com or by going straigh HERE. All the roads lead to the same destination. NOTE: E-BOOK IS TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK

So be free to share, download and spread the love! We have really poured our love and passion in this one, so we are very grateful for all the help you can give in spreading our kind ice cream message! #kindicecreamforyou #kindicecream

Take care, be Kind and have a lovely ice-cream-filled June, my friend!

V

Ok, are you ready for the most delicious summer of our era? Have your taste buds and sweet teeth ready because an ultimate e-book about healthy and delicious homemade ice creams, KIND ICE CREAM FOR YOU is almost here!

This is a book that we have been preparing the whole spring with my lovely colleague & friend Tuulia and it is going to be published online in the beginning of June, meaning next week! Eeeek! This is so Exciting! It´s going to be the book of our dreams – and hopefully yours too!

KIND ICE CREAM FOR YOU serves over 60 recipes for homemade & healthy ice creams, all free from dairy, soy, gluten and refined sugar. Most of the recipes are raw and they can easily be done vegan. People with nut-allergies will find loads of goodies for them too!

The book is going to give you recipes for Creamy Ice Creams, Soft Serves, Sorbets & Ice Pops, Instant Ice Creams, Ice Cream Cakes & Cookies and Addings & Toppings + introduction to kind ice creams and to good quality ingredients. And because it is an e-book it can be easily read with a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone. That way you can carry it with you to all of your summer adventures and make kind ice creams whenever you feel like indulging!

And hey, it is in English so all you quality ice cream lovers all around the world can read it!

All in all, I honestly think this book includes everything a perfect ice cream book should. I am feeling SO happy and proud.

AND NOW A WARM RECOMMENDATION: Right now would be a perfect time to sign-up to my newsletter, because all the subscribers who have signed up before 1.6. will be getting a 20 % discount from the KIND ICE CREAM FOR YOU e-book immediately when it´s released, which makes it then only 9,50 euros! And you´ll be also getting a free Smoothie Guide delivered straight to your e-mail right away!

Sign-up HERE

Last week we asked you guys in our social media channels to give us your helping hand and to tell us your favorite ice cream flavors. We received over 200 mouth-watering ideas and happily noticed that many of them were already covered in the book, for example, blueberry pie, mango melon, matcha white chocolate, licorice, cherry garcia, salted caramel and so on.

Still, we managed to pick two winners who will win free copies of our e-book and whose favorite ice cream will be included in the book. The other winner is Salla, who wished for a healthier version of Snickers Ice Cream and the other one is Minna whose favorite ice cream is Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches. Both recipes will be now found in the book, and in our web sites too, as tastings. The recipe for the super amazing Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches is found at my co-author Tuulia´s page, and the recipe for Snickers ice cream will be presented here – in a cake form!

This chocolate covered caramel peanut butter ice cream cake is just a perfect treat for summer parties. People who love peanut butter and caramel will adore it!

And don´t be frightened if this recipe seems to have a little too many steps for your taste – 90 % of the recipes in our book will be super easy, because we think both summer and this book should be merely for lazy pleasures. But in some occasions you just need to have a few extra layers to make it festive – like now when announcing this super cool ice cream news!

V

SNICKERS ICE CREAM CAKE

(Dairy free, Gluten free, Refined sugar free, raw, vegan)

Ice cream:

  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 can (400 ml or 1 ¾ cups) full fat coconut milk (refrigerated over-night)
  • ½ cup (120 ml) peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a tiny pinch of sea salt

In the middle:

  • ½ cup raw crushed peanuts (or hazel nuts) + 0,25 tsp sea salt

Caramel filling:

  • 6 fresh dates (pitted)
  • 2 tbsp coconut syrup (or organic honey)
  • ½ cup (120 ml) un-sweetened peanut butter
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a tiny pinch of celtic sea salt
  • ½ cup coconut milk

Chocolate frosting:

  • 4 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
  • ¼ cup cacao butter (melted)
  • 4 tbsp raw cocoa powder
  • 3 tbsp organic honey or rice syrup (or sweetener of your choice)

On top:

  • ½ cup crushed raw peanuts (or hazel nuts)
  • 2 tbsp coconut syrup (or organic honey)

Cake tin diameter: 9 x 19 cm / 3.5 x 7.5 inch

Ice Cream:

Cover the cake tin with parchment paper so that the cake is easier to remove later. Put the bananas, peanut butter, coconut milk and vanilla to the blender and blend until smooth. Taste and if you want, sweeten for example with coconut syrup or honey. Pour the ice cream mixture into the tin.

Crush the peanuts and add a pinch sea salt. Add the crushed nuts on top of the ice cream and make the caramel filling.

Caramel filling:

Place all the ingredients into a blender but only half of the coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Add more coconut milk if needed so that you will get the consistency of a smooth caramel sauce or make it as runny as you desire. Pour about half of the filling into the cake tin on the top of the ice cream. Place the tin into a freezer for about 3 hours or until solid.

Chocolate frosting:

Whisk the ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. Taste and add more sweetness if desired.

Assembly:

When the ice cream is solid remove the ice cream cake from the tin and place it onto a serving plate. Pour the rest of the caramel filling on top of the ice cream cake. On top of the caramel filling pour the chocolate frosting. Sprinkle some crushed peanuts on top and pour some syrup or honey on. Let the cake melt a little while in the fridge so that it is not completely frozen, serve and enjoy!

Note! Kind Ice Cream for You e-book is temporarily out of stock!

1.Easy Ice Cream Pops:

(About 3 ice pops)

Ice-cream:

  • 2 large ripe bananas
  • 2 heaping tbsp almond butter or nut butter (for example peanut butter)
  • 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs

Puree the bananas and peanut butter in a blender. Add cacao nibs and mix gently. Pour the mixture into ice pop molds and freeze. When the ice pops are frozen remove the molds. Serve and enojy!

2.Luxury Ice Cream Pops:

(About 5 ice cream)

Ice cream:

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 heaping tablespoons almond butter or nut butter (for example peanut butter)
  • a small handful of almonds
  • ½ tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 tbsp coconut syrup
  • About ¼ cup oat milk (or almond milk or coconut milk)
  • 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs

Chocolate frosting:

  • ¼ cup raw cocoa mass
  • 2 tbsp cold-pressed coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp honey or coconut syrup
  • a pinch of sea salt

(Or use melted raw chocolate or sugar-free dark chocolate for frosting)

On top:

  • Crushed nuts or almonds or coconut flakes

Add bananas, peanut butter, almonds and a little bit of water into a blender. Puree until smooth. Do not add too much water so that the mixture does not become too runny, because then the ice cream can become grainy. Add honey or stevia, vanilla and raw cacao nibs. Stir softly. Pour the mixture into ice pop molds and freeze. When the ice pops are frozen prepare the chocolate frosting. Melt the cocoa mass and coconut oil in a warm water bath. Add syrup and salt. Stir. Take the ice creams out of their molds and frost them with chocolate. Sprinkle on some nut crust. Serve right away or store in the freezer.

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I´m the type of person who tends to heat up easily. When there are not enough hours in the day for all the ideas, projects and inspiration, my mind and body go into overdrive. Usually I can find the balance quite easily by calming down and eating more alkaline food, drinking green juices and so on, but once in a while the cooling down task proves to be more difficult.

Lately I have been working with two very dear and big projects, this website and my upcoming cookbook that will be released in Finland in December. These projects combined with other work stuff and a quite speedy life with a 2-year-old have made my body collect some extra heat.

So now, with all you lovely readers as my witnesses, I promise to take action and make cooling off and quieting down my main missions. This means more daily meditation and being conscious, being present.
I believe that in a peaceful state of mind you can be just as effective as when your mind is in overdrive.

What is needed is just a little bit of learning and more concentrating when it comes to my type of hotties. And hey, lovely cooling treats like this pretty sorbet made from frozen grapes! You can find the recipe in HERE.

Some meditation and some sorbet will help you to cool down and take the edge off an agitated state, for sure.

  • 4 bags of chai tea
  • handful of fresh mint leaves
  • juice of half a lime
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp rganic honey or coconut palm syrup
  • 1 cup full fat coconut milk (the cream mixed in)
  • 2 cups water

Add 2 cups of water and the tea bags in a pot and bring to boil. Add crushed mint leaves and let steep for about 10 minutes, or longer if you want the taste to be stronger. Strain out mint leaves and remove tea bags. Add in 2 dl of cold water. Add the mixed coconut milk, honey, vanilla extract and lime juice. Mix. Fill the ice pop molds and freeze until firm. Enjoy!

Tip: You can pour the coconut milk & chai tea mixture into the mold with varying intensity, freezing one section at a time to create nice patterns.  Of course an easier way is to pour the mixture in at once, the taste is at least as good.

  • 1 box of organic grapes
  • 1 tsp of honey
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Wash the grapes carefully. After rinsing, dry the grapes. Put in a freezer and freeze for about one hour. Puree the frozen grapes, for example in a blender. Stir in the honey and vanilla. Pour into a bowl and enjoy.

  • 1 can of coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp organic honey
  • +1 tbs juice of a lime (try also pineapple juice!)

Blend coconut milk, vanilla extract (or vanilla powder) and honey in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture into popsticle molds and freeze. Enjoy!