Wow, gals and guys! Can you believe that in the past 4 1/2 months I have been blogging here at Give It A Whirl Girl and this is a milestone post? 100 posts have been drafted and published as of today! I figured the best way to celebrate my hard work was with a bowl of Balsamic Raspberry & Chocolate Balsamic Fudge Ripple Nice Cream! No champagne bubbles flowing here, just some paleo and (almost vegan… I did use raw honey) nice-cream for my daughter and I to share.
Blogging has just been a fantastic journey and experience for me. I feel blessed that I am able to work from home and combine my passion for cooking, baking, and writing. I am learning new things as the days go by. There is also never a shortage of things to do. I am consistently keeping myself busy and occupied. With blogging, there is always a lot of behind-the-scenes work.
I love being able to sit down and write each morning while I am sipping on my coffee. Once the caffeine kicks in I am ready to start drafting up a post to share with my readers. I am really looking forward to seeing where I will be on June 6th of 2019 when I will hit my one-year blog milestone. I can already see in the four short months I have been blogging, how much improvement I have already made from the beginning. Thank you to all who take the time to read my posts. I love and appreciate each and every one of you!
Now onto the balsamic nice-cream that I created last night. I am going to tell you all about it!
The story behind the balsamic vinegar
This all just started out as a wild and crazy idea. I had some bottles of flavored balsamic leftover from an adult onesie party that I had for my birthday. I picked these up at Devries & Company 1887 in Eastern Market down in Detroit, MI. Back in February I stocked up on Groupons and went and did a little shopping there. They had numerous flavors of balsamic vinegars to sample and several different oils as well. For the vinegars, I ended up bringing home a bottle of raspberry, chocolate, and espresso. These vinegars pair so well with fruit.
The vinegar is produced for Fanchone Gourmet, which is located in Macomb, MI. These are certified products of Italy (imported from Moderna, Italy). The balsamics are barrel-aged in oak to give it exceptional flavor and aroma.
The base vinegar, Heirloom Natural Flavor Balsamic Vinegar, is imported in barrels and bottled in the US. The Heirloom Natural Flavor is infused with different fruit pastes and concentrates in a Californian processing plant to make the many different flavors offered by Fanchone. The vinegar is not “cooked” down or reduced once it has left the producer in Italy. (source)
How I created my nice-cream
About 95% of the time my nice-cream uses overnight frozen bananas as a base. This was the case for this batch. There are other ways of creating this but I most often use the frozen banana approach. You have to have a decent food processor to get the desired consistency with nice-cream. My food processor is just alright. I am dreaming of the day of getting an upgrade! A soft spatula also comes in handy while making this. I always scrape down the sides a few times to get the ingredients blended up.
You can read more about a couple of different nice creams that I created:
-
CACTUS PEAR & POMEGRANATE WITH ENJOY LIFE FOODS PROTEIN BITES
-
CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE PALEO & VEGAN NICE-CREAM
Fresh raspberry sauce
I started out with a fresh pint of raspberries, the raspberry balsamic, some black chia seeds, and some raw honey. I placed these ingredients in a small pan and brought it to a boil and then a simmer to reduce. Once the raspberry sauce reduced down and thickened a bit, I allowed it to cool and placed it in the refrigerator.
Chocolate Fudge Ripple
To create the fudge I used a small pan and created the sauce by using my chocolate balsamic vinegar, a heaping spoon of cacao powder, and coconut oil. I allowed these ingredients to melt together and they formed a thick, fudge-like consistency. I let this rest for a bit to let it cool before adding it to my nice-cream.
Blend those bananas!
Here is where I busted out my food processor to make the base of this nice-cream. I used two frozen bananas and I used some of my Nutpods Original Creamer to make a creamy and dreamy nice-cream. This was a bit experimental for me with the creamer. I usually just go with full-fat coconut milk here but I did not have a can on-hand and figured my coffee creamer would be a thick enough liquid to use. And guess what? It worked! Woohoo! Sometimes in the kitchen, you just have to be on your toes and quick thinking. Cooking always involves problem-solving skills and I used my brain here to come up with a solution. I might just be using my Nutpods creamer again in my nice-cream. It really gave it a rich, enjoyable texture.
Mix it all up
Once the nice-cream base was a smooth consistency and all blended up I placed it in a medium-sized bowl. I swirled the balsamic raspberry sauce into it. I then placed the balsamic raspberry ice-cream in a bowl and topped it with my chocolate balsamic fudge. It all came together looking like a masterpiece to me.
The outcome
My daughter and I shared this bowl of balsamic nice-cream. This is the first time in our lives ever having a frozen treat with a balsamic flavor to it so we were very excited to give this a whirl. We grabbed two spoons and tore into this and we were both just blown away by the flavor. This nice-cream definitely had a unique flavor profile.
Seeing the smile on my daughter’s face while sharing this with her warmed my heart and soul.
I really enjoy and treasure these foodie adventures that I share with my child. I sure have raised her to eat with an open mind and she has quite the palate for an 8-year-old girl! She will try most things at least once. I hope my cooking and baking skills rub off on her and she will follow down this path of adventurous eating when she grows up and is on her own.
If you would like to learn more about these balsamic vinegars there is info:
- On their website
- And you can purchase them at Devries & Company 1887
Have you ever tried making your own nice-cream? How do you like to create yours? Leave me a comment and let me know.
DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. THIS HELPS MAKE FOR A BETTER BLOG EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF MY READERS. ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARDS MAKING IMPROVEMENTS ON THIS BLOG.
Congratulations on 100 posts! That’s devotion! Love you Kimmy! You better make me some of this nice cream next time I come over!