layered ice cream cake with chocolate, vanilla & peppermint

First of all - please listen to this exquisite album by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, it's incredibly beautiful and makes me cry.

Secondly - this turned out fabulously, if I do say so myself (and I just did - so there.) I had a dream about this cake a few days ago and have been itching to make it ever since. When it comes down to it - this ice cream cake is mostly bananas. The pink layer comes from beet juice, and the green comes from avocado and peppermint leaves. I recommend using your Vitamix for this (can be bought on amazon or ebay) to make the layers as creamy as possible. 

I must admit - the avocado layer tasted sort of funky on it's own and I was thinking "Hmm... maybe my subconscious failed to consider the weird combination of avocado and mint in an ice cream cake." But it ended up tasting great with all the other delicious flavour pairings. The beet layer is unusually enjoyable. you might be thinking beets are a strange thing to make into ice cream, but the earthy tones of beets along with the sweetness of bananas is outta this world! Letting each thin layer freeze is a tad time-consuming, but it's worth it. 

I love when my dreams come true.

spiced chocolate, cashew vanilla, peppermint-avocado & banana-beet layered ice cream cake

Crust:

1 cup raw flour (I used buckwheat)

1 cup dates or prunes

Chocolate layer:

3 ripe bananas

1/3 cup cacao

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne, to taste

2 tablespoon agave/maple syrup

water, if too thick

Vanilla layer:

1 1/2 cups cashews

3 tablespoons agave/maple syrup

seeds from one vanilla bean

1/3 cup water

juice of one lemon 

Beet layer:

1/2 cup fresh beet juice

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup pine nuts

1-2 tablespoons agave/maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Mint layer:

2 cup fresh mint leaves

1 avocado

1/4 cup agave/maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup nut milk

2 ripe bananas

Coconut Maple Drizzle:
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

To make the crust: process the dates or prunes and flour until it all sticks together somewhat. Press into the bottom of a lined spring form pan and set aside. 

To make each layer: blend the ingredients (in each list) until smooth, then pour each one in a separate bowl. Pour on part of the chocolate mixture quite thin, then let it harden in the freezer. Next, pour on a thin layer of beet mixture, let it freeze. You get the idea. Pour, freeze, pour, freeze. Put them in whatever order you want until you use all the mixtures up! 

To make to drizzle, stir ingredients together until combined then decorate, I also added some lemon zest - why not. Enjoy!

avocado bliss

This is a super simple, nutritious, quick snack I make whenever we have ripe avocados (is there anything BETTER than a ripe avocado?). 
I used to only add avocados to other things, like nori rolls or in salads; but now I love eating them just as they are. They are a wonderful food. One of my favourites for sure. There is nothing like the creaminess, flavour and colour of an avocado.  

Also, don't be afraid of their fat content! Their fats are SOOOOO good for you. They keep your cells (our cell membranes are made of mostly fats, which are responsible for protecting our cells and moving around cellular materials) moving smoothly and fast, which ultimately allows your metabolism to burn calories more efficiently. Plus our hair, nails and skin are made of fats, so we should keep replenishing those with fresh new ones from whole plant foods like coconut, avocado, durian, olives, sprouted raw nut and seeds, and even bananas. These are the foods to eat for BEAUTY!

There's plenty of books about this subject. I Googled it really quick for ya and this link looked reliable. I encourage you to research this topic for yourself though. You're the best judge =)

Avocado Snack: Serves 1

1 Avocado

1 t Tamari

Walnut Parma or Nutritional Yeast

Cut the avocado in half, and take out the pit. (Try sprouting it so you can have your own avocado tree!) Score both halves, and put on Tamari then Parma/Nutritional Yeast. Eat with a spoon!

Another way to do this - don't add anything! Or add some spicy sauce, or agave/honey... "whatevs"!

The best things in life are the simplest.