Dairy-Free Easy Blackberry Basil Ice Cream - SRC

I am taking a brief break from my August vacation from blogging to bring you this very important post:  my monthly contribution to the Secret Recipe Club.

My assigned blog is Life on Food, hosted by Emily.  Emily is a self-proclaimed foodie, married to Mr. J, her partner in cooking and eating adventures.  Emily loves to blog about "everyday food occurrences" along with her recipes, making her posts an interesting as well as a delicious read.

From her vast collection, I had narrowed my selection down to three, agonizing over which to make for SRC, when the decision was made for me.  A couple weeks ago, a library regular came to the library reference desk and asked me to look up the birthday of a particular TV star.  As usual, by the time I started to write this post I could not longer recall the star's name, but I did note that his date of birth was August 25th, my recipe reveal posting date!  And for some reason other major happenings on that date popped up as well, including the factoid that August 25th also happened to be  National Banana Split Day.   And one of the recipe finalists just happened to be Blackberry Ice Cream ... the perfect dish with which to celebrate since the recipe is exactly like a banana split ... in that it contains bananas.

I've made that famous one-ingredient banana ice cream before, even using it to create a fancy-schmancy variation.  But Emily's special twist intrigued me.  A savory herb in a dessert?  Yes, yes, YES!  And while we are on the subject, the 10 basil leaves required might first appear to be about 9 leaves too much, but in truth it really is just the right amount.  Because of the blackberry and bananas, you need a vast quantity of basil in order for its taste to peek through.  When the ice cream first hits your tongue, the bananas shine. Then blackberries move to the front of your taste buds, followed by mellow basil notes.

Started to melt a bit ... didn't affect the flavor.

In case you are worried about the blackberry seeds, don't.  Unless you wear dentures or have very fussy eaters, top the whole shebang with sliced almonds.  The almond crunch will camouflage the seeds very nicely, thank you.

Unlike my earlier banana ice cream recipe, Emily adds in milk, giving the dessert a creamier flavor as well as a silky mouth-feel.  I had guests with lactose issues, so I made a tiny substitution of dairyless almond milk.  Still yummy!

Oh ... can't believe I forgot to mention: the really neato most fantabulous thing about this recipe?  Emily originally created it for breakfast!  Think about it.  Just a couple of fruits, a few herb leaves and milk.  No sugar added!  Yay! Dessert for breakfast!  Thank you, Emily!




Dairy-Free Easy Basil Blackberry Banana "Ice Cream"
Adapted from: Life on Food
Yield:  2 breakfast or 3 dessert servings
Blueberries or strawberries can be used in place of the blackberries

2 bananas, peeled, cut into 5 or 6 pieces, then frozen solid
1/2 cup frozen blackberries
10 small to medium fresh basil leaves, large leaves coarsely torn or chopped
1/2 almond milk

Place all ingredients in a food processor.

Process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy, stopping the machine to scrape down the ingredients as necessary.

Serve immediately.  If you prefer, freeze to serve later.  If frozen solid, toss back in processor for 20-30 seconds until softened.

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