Creamy Raw Valentine’s Day Ice Cream With Chia Hearts

Valentine-ice-cream-3

Ice cream in February?! Yes my friend. Ice cream has no season in my book. This recipe is in honor of Love. Not the romantic couples love that so many singles want to skip during Valentines. But Love. Nothing more, nothing less.

So let this post be an inspiration to love yourself whether you are in a relationship or not!

Creamy Raw Ice Cream

Prep time: Start the night before with the chia hearts and ice cream. It will need to deep freeze over night.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cashews (soaked for 3 hours)
  • 1 cup frozen raspberries
  • 1 cup frozen bananas
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk (can be substituted with water by blending  1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut with a slightly more than 1/2 cup water, and press through a nut milk bag)
  • 1/3 cup agave nectar or honey
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 3 tablespoons lúcuma (optional)
  • 20 drops liquid stevia vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon real vanilla from pod
  • A pinch of himalayan salt

Directions:

First blend the cashews, agave nectar and coconut milk for 1 minute. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Pour in a shallow container and freeze overnight.

Serves: About 5-6 ice cream balls. Double the recipe if you want more! (recommended).

In a hurry? Skip the Chia hearts and soft-serve the ice cream after 1 hour in the freezer. Decorate with melted chocolate or chopped nuts.

Raw Ice cream tips: Lúcuma helps make the ice cream more smooth, so if you like raw ice cream, invest in a bag of lúcuma!

I use both agave and stevia, since the agave is needed to make the ice cream more creamy and less ice crystal forming. When you freeze ice cream, some of the flavors and sweetener is lost. Stevia isn’t sensitive to freezing as most ingredients are, flavor wise, so adding some stevia makes it so that you don’t have to sacrifice the sweetness.

Chia Heart Leathers

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup raspberries, fresh or thawed
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

1. Blend the raspberries with the chia seeds for 30 seconds.

2. Spread evenly on a teflex sheet using a spatula. Put on a mesh tray and let it dry on 105° F overnight (8 hours).

3. Remove the teflex sheet after 6 hours. You can do this by carefully folding the side of the teflex sheet underneath the dough and slowly pull it to remove the sheet. Or, put another tray on top.

4. To cut your hearts, first cut a triangle, then cut round corners until you have a heart shape.

Note: If your leather come out softish it needs to dry more, until it is crisp hard. If you are interested in making different fruit-leathers check out my eBook Snack Smarter where I dedicate a whole chapter to fruit-leathers.

Karolina Eleonóra

Raw Dessert Chef at The Raw Dessert Kitchen
Karolina Eleonóra is a raw dessert chef that specializes in nut free and cacao free recipes. She is the author of the fun, life coaching ebook "Snack Smarter" that guides the reader in how to stock the freezer with easy to make, superfood infused raw snacks to support you when the sweet cravings set in. Visit www.therawdessertkitchen.com for more information.