I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream! This week has been HOT in Southern California. Excessively hot! In fact, they just issued an excessive heat warning in Orange County through 10pm tonight! Odd, since tomorrow it is forecasted to rain. On top of the heat, Ryder has a little cold so I can’t take him to any indoor playgrounds for fear of spreading germs and his temp is slightly elevated. Luckily, I have a constant rotation of overripe bananas in the freezer ready for making “nice cream” and today was the perfect occasion to do so. In addition to bananas making a great creamy treat to cool us down, they are packed with vitamin C to help boost the immune system.

Nice cream is such an easy treat to whip up and the perfect way to use up overripe bananas. When the bananas are covered in spots, peel, chop into smaller pieces and store in a freezer bag in the freezer. If you have a high powered blender (I use a Vitamix), you can freeze in chunks. If you’re concerned with your blenders power, slice into coin size pieces.* When your sweet tooth or high tempatures strikes, pull out your pre-frozen bananas, pop in the blender, give ’em a whirl and ta-da! Nice Cream!!

* Always review your blenders manual if you have concerns as some blenders are not powerful enough to make nice cream and attempting to do so could break the blender.

Soft serve fan? You can serve into bowls from straight out of the blender. If you prefer your nice cream firmer like a scoop of ice cream, pour into a glass Tupperware container, add any mix ins and let freeze for an additional 2 – 3 hours, until firm or to desired consistency.

You can add any mix of ingredients to flavor your nice cream. I personally love the mix of fruit and chocolate. Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Jubillee HITS THE SPOT for me and this dark chocolate and fig combo satisfies hat craving. Play around and discover your favorite combination.

Y’all know I’m on a huge fig kick right now. They are just so delicious. I love the seedy texture and the perfect level of sweetness they add to a dish, yet they are mild enough to eat plain by the handful. It seems as though every time this year, I become obsessed with figs and wonder if I enjoyed them this much in previous years or if my tastebuds have evolved with age. I am confident this year, they are definitely the tastiest they’ve ever been!

Another thing, I love about figs is their appearance. The are so beautiful with pops of deep purple and lime green on the outside. I love the contrast between the smooth flesh on the outside and the seeds on the inside. I can take a boring cheese platter to magazine ready just by adding a few figs. They also make incredible table decor for dinner parties!

Anyways, now that I’ve qualified myself as an official fig lover, I’ve got to tell you, this dark chocolate and fig combo is exquisite!! The perfect level of sweetness. I used Trader Joe’s dark chocolate chunks and broke them into smaller pieces by placing them in a small zip lock baggy and pounding with the smooth side of a mallet. You could skip this step, but since I was making this with Ryder in mind, I wanted to avoid having him eat larger frozen chunks. Same with the figs. I sliced mine extra thin and in smaller pieces. Large chunks would add more color and texture, but mama bear is a worry wart!

The best part about this nice cream is that a fourth of this recipe, which is a generous portion, comes out to be 168 calories! 3F/38C/2P

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate & Fig Nicecream

Yields 4 servings 

Ingredients

• 4 ripe bananas
• 2 Tablespoon Trader Joe’s dark chocolate chunks
• 4oz raw figs, sliced

Directions

1. Peel and slice bananas into smaller chunks and place in freezer safe bag.
2. Place flat in freezer.
3. Let freeze for 8+ hours (or weeks in advance).
4. Add frozen banana pieces to high powered blender, such as the Vitamix. Blend on COLD setting on low. Increase power level as needed. Blend until puréed smooth.
5. Pour into glass Tupperware and add figs and chocolate. Mix with a spoon and use back of spoon to smooth out top.
6. Pop back in freezer for 2+ hours to desired consistency.