The Beginner's Guide to NiceCreamBy Mary Margaret ChappellJanuary 26 2021

Nice cream is a treat that totally lives up to its name.

What Is Nice Cream?

Nice cream is a sugar-free, dairy-free dessert made by blitzing pieces of frozen fruit in a food processor or high-speed blender.The whole-food vegan ice cream is rich, creamy, and luscious enough for a special occasion (birthday party, anyone?) yet lightand easy enough for an anytime indulgence. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s everything you need to know to make nicecreams in your own kitchen.

How to Make Nice Cream

Start with Frozen Bananas

The term “nice cream” was originally coined to describe the soft serve–like confection made by blending chunks of frozenbananas, and the dense, sweet fruits remain the best for obtaining a custard-like consistency.

1) Freeze whole, peeled, ripe bananas until firm. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the nice cream.2) Break 3 bananas into 1-inch chunks (about 3 cups frozen fruit); then blend the chunks in a food processor or high-speedblender such as a Vitamix until smooth, adding up to ¼ cup plant milk if necessary. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, use afood processor. Frozen fruit may damage a less powerful blender.3) Serve immediately for a soft-serve texture, or place in the freezer 1 to 2 hours for a firmer consistency. Longer freezingtimes may require a little room-temperature defrosting to make the nice cream scoopable.

Try the Technique with Other Custardy Fruits

It’s not just about bananas: Other fruits can serve as a nice cream base. But not all fruits have the right balance of natural sugarand moisture to blend up to a perfectly creamy, soft-serve consistency. Here are the fruits that do and how to prep them.

Mangoes: peeled, cut into chunksPeaches, nectarines: peeled, pitted, quarteredApricots: pitted and halved

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The Beginner's Guide to Nice CreamBy Mary Margaret ChappellJuly 16 2020

Honeydew, cantaloupe: peeled, seeded, cut into chunksHachiya persimmons: peeled, slicedCherries: pitted

Once frozen, blend 3 cups of the prepared fruit with up to ¼ cup plant milk until smooth.

Mix and Match with Different Fruits

Frozen berries, cherries, mango, pineapple, kiwi, persimmon, and other fruits can also be blended into your already-blendedbase fruit. Or, to add chunky texture, try folding in 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen fruit or nuts. Just avoid fruits that brownquickly or are high in moisture, such as apples and pears.

Enhance With Flavorings

Once you’ve got the basics down, there’s no end to the nice cream combinations you can dream up, from classic chocolate(bananas + cocoa powder) and creamy pistachio (banana + pistachio butter) to exotic acai (base fruit + frozen acai purée) orsummery strawberry basil (base fruit + strawberries + chopped basil). Here’s a rundown of flavorings you can add to your nicecream.

Flavorings to Try

2 to 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, cacao powder, or carob powder1 to 2 tablespoons nut butter¼ cup frozen acai purée¼ to ½ cup passionfruit purée½ to 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract¼ tsp. ground cinnamon or cardamom1 pinch ground nutmeg¼ to ½ tsp. almond, lemon, or coconut extract1–2 tablespoons citrus (lemon, lime, or orange) juice

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The Beginner's Guide to Nice CreamBy Mary Margaret ChappellJuly 16 2020

1–2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, rosemary, mint, or lemon verbena1–2 teaspoons rose or orange flower water

Looking for more inspiration and instruction? Try one of these nice cream recipes from Forks Over Knives.

Cinnamon Banana Nice Cream with Fruit Compote

2-Ingredient Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

Cherry Soft-Serve Ice Cream

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The Beginner's Guide to Nice CreamBy Mary Margaret ChappellJuly 16 2020

Mango Ice Cream

Strawberry-Chocolate Ice Cream

This article was originally published on Jul. 16, 2020, and has been updated.

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