Bananas as the sole ingredient in a cooking recipe

Hands up if you know the answer! How many ingredients do you need to make ice cream?

You have probably considered using more than one, two or three ingredients (sugar, milk, cream, …) to create a creamy texture. However, you can use only one. Take advantage of your overripe bananas!

Many of us have tried to make ice cream at home but didn´t succeed.  Instead of the soft-serve texture sought, we got a block of ice. Luckily, I bring you here some good news:

with bananas as the sole ingredient, you can easily make a great-tasting, gooey ice cream

Expanding the list of ingredients is pointless, unless of course if you are trying to emulate a 3-star Michelin restaurant. You might want to make a very sophisticated ice cream by using liquid nitrogen (though the technique is not that cutting-edge, contrary to what you might think: already in the 19^thcentury Agnes Marshall suggested in one of her books using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream), but if you want a simple recipe, stay here and discover an effortless one. It is even simpler than the original one from Persia, some 2500 years ago, where they used sweetened water, that they iced, ground into little pieces and decorated with fruits and toppings.

RECIPE:

Start taking notes (or simply memorize it):

Ingredient: you only need 3 overripe bananas that otherwise would probably be thrown away.

• Step 1: Peel and cut the bananas into slices (small, medium or large size).
• Step 2: Put the slices in an airtight container (freezer-safe glass bowl).
• Step 3: Freeze the bananas for at least 2 hours (ideally 8 hours).

• Step 4: Pulse the frozen banana slices in a powerful blender or a small food processor. Keep pulsing until the bananas look smashed and scrape down the blender. Then blend until the bananas look gooey. As it gets smoother scrape down the blender and, after blending for a few more minutes, the texture will turn creamy. Finally, blend for a few more seconds to aerate the ice cream.
• Step 5: Put the banana soft-serve ice cream in an airtight container and freeze until solid (1 to 3 hours).
• Step 6: Enjoy your banana ice cream.

P.S. You may also sophisticate the recipe by adding ingredients such as cocoa powder, honey, almonds, ….

An ice cream you can eat in every season

Moreover, this is an ice cream you can eat in every season because, as you already know, we, bananas, are available year-round (as described in our post Globetrotter bananita.

And why is it so easy to get soft ice cream with bananas?

It is because of what happens to our pectin as we ripen. Pectin is a polysaccharide, which is a group of water-soluble carbohydrates found in the intercellular tissues of bananas and other fruits. When bananas become overripe, our pectin is broken down into simple sugars, so we become softer and perfect to make ice cream.

Nevertheless, you can also have a look at the original recipe by Agnes Marshall in her Book of Ice Creams.

Enjoy the easy cooking!