Chocolate Cherry and Brownie Nice Cream

Put a (chocolate-covered) cherry on top! No ice cream maker is needed for this sweetener-free vegan Chocolate Cherry Brownie Nice Cream! It’s a terrific treat for hot summer days.

Dairy-Free Ice Cream

Dairy-free ice cream is easy to find in most any market now, and I have a whole chapter of ice creams in Vegan Chocolate. Still, it’s handy to have a recipe for an almost-instant frozen dessert with no-sweetener-added and no-ice-cream-maker-needed in your back pocket—or more accurately, in your freezer and refrigerator—especially when the temperatures have been hot-hotter-hottest.

This morning, I woke thinking about my Rouxbe live event tomorrow, Thursday, July 12, 4pm EST, which focuses on making desserts with items from your freezer. Today’s recipe is really a template, meaning you can stop at any point—from frozen the Banana Nice Cream, to the banana plus the crumbled Gluten-Free Brownie Bite (glaze and all), to the full ice cream shop dessert of Banana Chocolate Cherry and Brownie Nice Cream. I pulled some frozen blueberries from the freezer, but decided against using them.

Nice Cream Tips:

• I slice very ripe bananas and freeze them on a flat tray before bagging them for storage in the freezer. This makes for faster freezing and processing to Nice Cream.
• Add a bit of plant milk, just enough to keep the bananas moving, to the frozen banana cream in the food processor. You want a creamy, but not liquid mass.
• Do not over processes. Stop when the banana-plant milk combo is just creamed. I have an old food processor,  which is not very powerful, and I stop it a few times to break up bigger chunks. Then the The Nice Cream is ready for add-ins.

• If your Nice Cream is too soft at this point to add your mix-ins, place it in an already chilled shallow flat dish and get it into the freezer. When it is firmer, gently stir in the add-ins. Mine was ready to accept the crumbled mini Gluten-Free Brownie Bite right out of the food processor.
• Now freeze the Nice Cream in the cold shallow container.
• While I was waiting for the Nice Cream to harden sufficiently, I put a serving dish in the freezer and set about to dip some cherries in chocolate ganache. Know that—and my Essential Vegan Desserts students who have done the chocolate dipping assignment, do know this—enrobing in ganache is not the same as enrobing in melted chocolate. But it is so good!
• Why cherries? Well, I was eating a bowlful this morning with my coffee. I can’t get enough this time of the year. My cherry pitter has come in very handy.

It’s time now for me to check on the state of the Chocolate Nice Cream, and see if it’s time to add the cherries and perhaps some Vanilla Pastry Cream that was in my freezer, too. Stay here with me for a few minutes.

Ok, last thing to say here, is that I took one pecan and crumbled it over the Chocolate Nice Cream. I added actually less than 1 tablespoon of ganache and put a chocolate covered cherry on it before I ate half. I did have the surprise (well, I knew they were there) of pitted cherries under the Nice Cream. Always adding more fruit is a good thing. My next Sundae may be topped with cacao nibs.

5 from 1 vote

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Chocolate Cherry and Brownie Nice Cream

I made this recipe using my Chocolate Ganache and Gluten-Free Brownie Bites. This recipe makes 2 cups of Nice Cream, 2 to 4 servings.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Nice Cream, vegan dessert

Yields 2 cups

Author Fran Costigan

Ingredients

• About 3 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen (2 cups frozen slices)
• 2-4 tablespoons any plant milk (I used soy, as the container was already open)
• 2 tablespoons chocolate ganache, for dipping cherries and/or drizzling over the Nice Cream
• 1 chocolate glazed Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Bite
• 5 or more fresh cherries, pitted and cut into halves or quarter
• More fresh cherries, pitted to dip into ganache, opitional
• Pecans or another nut, broken into small pieces

Instructions

1. Process the frozen bananas in a food processor to a chunky puree. Stop the machine and break up any larger chunks as needed.

2. Add the plant milk, a little at a time, and process until just creamy, not longer, so the Nice Cream doesn’t liquefy.

3. Add the ganache and pulse until combined.
4. Spoon into a shallow container (mine was already cold having been stored in the freezer.)
5. Crumble the brownie, glaze and all over the top and stir into the Nice Cream.

6. Freeze before using to allow the Nice Cream to harden sufficiently, which means to your taste. The amount of time will depend on how firm or soft your Nice Cream out of the processor and the temperature of your freezer. If the Nice Cream has been in the freezer more than an hour, you may need to allow it to soften at room temperature for 5 or so minutes.

7. Add some pitted halved cherries or any other fruit or addition you like.
8. Serve as is or make a for a sundae.

9. Sundae ideas: Nuts, fruits, Chocolate Ganache or Syrup, Vanilla Pastry Cream, Vegan Whipped cream and mini marshmallows. Graham Crackers--

Recipe Notes

Sundae ideas:

• Add a sprinkling of chopped nuts and a drizzle of ganache over the top
• Add a ganache-dipped cherry
• Add dollop of cold Vanilla Pastry Cream.

This was all made by the way before my coffee was cold this morning and in the spirit of making sure what recipe testing before I sent this off to you, dear reader, even though this was a matter of what could be not good, I ate several spoonfuls—bananas and cherries and a bit of chocolate for breakfast.