Chocolate-Macadamia Ice Cream

The weather has been unseasonably clement this past week, and my Vitamix replacement tamper has arrived. Naturally, given my predilection for eating dessert, I've been experimenting with banana-free ice cream recipes, as bananas currently cost more than gold. I adore bananas, and at least once a day I sigh and dream of a time when bananas were $1 per kilo and I ate at least two a day. When someone brings a banana to school, I sniff the air and almost die with longing. For my birfday, you know what to get me. Twenty kilos of bananas, which will set you back a measly $134,348,324.85

As macadamias are now cheaper than bananas (!!), I make ice cream with them. You can of course use cashews if you don't have macadamias. Macadamias are however much fattier than cashews, so either decrease the amount of water in the recipe or add some macadamia oil.

I froze the whole batch in 6 little popsicle moulds I bought from Ikea, as the smaller volume decreases the amount of time it takes for the ice cream to solidify. You don't require an ice cream maker for this recipe, just a very strong blender. 

Chocolate-Macadamia Ice Cream

• 120g raw macadamias (seriously, for the love of God, do not use roasted and salted. It won't work)
• 175g water
• 55g cocoa powder
• 8g vanilla extract
• 30g light agave nectar (or use sugar syrup)
• 15g raw sugar (I didn't have any more agave, so I added sugar)

Blend everything until the consistency of cream. I did the macadamias first, adding water gradually, then the rest of the ingredients. Freeze until solid. To unmould, run under a hot tap for about 10 seconds, or leave at room temperature for 15 minutes.

OHMYGOODNESS there's SUN, people, SUN. It's ICE CREAM EATING WEATHER.

Do make this, dear readers! The macadamias make it intensely rich and creamy, very solid and with a truly decadent mouthfeel, and the fat content ensures a complete lack of ice crystals, even though it's made without an ice-cream maker or even any churning (I hate those recipes where you have to stir the ice cream every half-hour; I always forget and when I come back it's a frozen block of ice). And the chocolate just makes everything 100x better, because of all the serotonin eating cocoa produces. You cannot BUY ice cream this good in a supermarket, people. Trust me, the person who, before going vegan, used to polish off an economy-sized tub of Haagen-Dazs every week.

This ice-cream is exceedingly simple, scrumptious, and yes, I WILL call it healthy. Eat one or two and feel saintly, not porcine.