Raspberry Chocolate Ice-Cream Sandwiches

I can’t believe it is that time of year again already! I have to say that I am very pleased though – I LOVE the festive season! This morning we delivered home-made granola and potted herbs to my daughter’s kinder teachers, and it was just so lovely to see their reactions. Especially to the cards we had written. Here’s an example – “I love you very much {kinder teacher}, but I love my mum and dad a little bit more, but I still love you”. Awwww.

I love taking the opportunity that this time of year brings to show your appreciation for others. Special cards going out to my favourite cafe and most frequented health food shop, as these are people that make my life great, and are so wonderful to interact with on a regular basis. My nephew wrote a card for the garbage man, as he decided this was someone that is special in his life. Too cute! Kindness, it makes the world go ’round.

Okay, on to some food! These little ice-cream sandwiches are a great treat to serve any time really. You can slice them up and the pop them back in the freezer, to have on demand whenever the mood strikes, or serve them all at once to a lucky lot. They should please most people as they are gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free. The best bit for my mind is that the ice-cream is a super easy no churn, no fuss, one freeze situation – hooray to that! I hope you love them.

The brownie is based on My New Roots raw brownie genius, and you can substitute any berry in place of the raspberries. I’m thinking blackberry would be wonderful too. If you want to get fancy, dip the individual sandwiches into melted chocolate and top with a raspberry or some grated chocolate!

For the brownie:

1 1/2 cups of nuts (I used 1/2 walnuts 1/2 almonds)

1 cup plus a couple extra medjool (or soft) dates

1/2 cup raw cacao

Pinch of sea salt

Pop the nuts in a food processor and blitz until fine-ish. Add cacao and sea salt and blitz to combine.

Add the dates one by one while the food processor is running. You should be able to press the mix between your fingers and have it stick together. If not, add a couple of extra dates.

Line a dish with baking paper – I used one sized 18cm x 13cm for the thickness shown in the pictures. Make sure the baking paper reaches up the sides of the dish as you want to be able to remove the entire ‘sandwich’ easily once it’s done.  Transfer half the brownie mix into the dish and press down and squish together into one even layer as best as possible. Place the dish in the fridge.

For the ice-cream:

1 1/2 cups raspberries (I used frozen)

1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews (soaked for at least 5 hours)

1 1/4 cup full fat coconut cream

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

3 tbs maple syrup (plus 1 tbs for the raspberries)

15 grams (about 2 tbs) cacao butter, melted

Place the raspberries in a bowl with 1 tbs of maple syrup and mash together with a fork. N.B. to encourage a creamy not frosty ice-cream, feel free to add a tablespoon of vodka to the raspberry mix. This will help it not to freeze, and it’s just a bit festive isn’t it? An optional extra. Set the mix aside.

Rinse your cashews and place them into a blender with about 1/4 cup of the coconut cream. Blend until smooth.

Add the rest of the coconut cream, maple syrup, cacao butter and scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean. Blend until combined. Add the raspberry mix and blend once more to combine.

Pour the mix over your brownie base – you will most likely have some left over depending on how tall you want your sandwiches. Cover with a piece of baking paper and pop into the freezer to set.

Once the ice-cream has set enough for you to push gently on it without it collapsing, press the other half of the brownie mix on top as you did the base. Return the dish to the freezer to set completely.

When you’re ready to eat this delight, remove it from the freezer for about 5-10 minutes (depending on the temperature of your home) to soften slightly. You will now be able to easily remove it from the dish by lifting up the baking paper. Slice as desired with a warm, wet knife and either return to the freezer or enjoy pronto!

Wishing you a beautiful, happy and delicious festive season from my family to yours. xxx