Dragonfruit / Pitaya Nice-Cream (Vegan, Gluten Free)

It's raining outside and the temperature is sitting at a chilly 9 degrees in Melbourne, but the house is heated and our socks are on. Yup, we are a determined bunch when it comes to food. So what does that mean? Nice cream for the win!

This is what you will be making today. A swirled ice cream attempt that actually worked! 

To make this recipe, you will need:

• 2 cans of full fat coconut milk, chilled overnight in the fridge
• 4 tablespoons rice malt syrup
• 1 tablespoon butterfly pea powder
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 4 bananas, frozen
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 a pink pitaya (dragonfruit)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

How to make:

1. Blend 2 frozen bananas until thick and creamy, set aside in freezer. 
2. Blend second 2 bananas with dragonfruit, set aside in the freezer.
3. Next, very carefully, without tipping the coconut milk can, scoop out the coconut cream from the top of the can reserving the clear liquid for other uses. Place into a mixing bowl.
4. Using a mixer, whip until creamy and smooth. Then add vanilla, almond milk, and sweetener. Whip until fully incorporated.
5. Seperate coconut mixture into 2 bowls, mix through the banana/dragonfruit combination into 1 bowl. (We created gradients in seperate bowls by starting with a small amount of dragonfruit for a light pink and finishing with a darker pink. But you can totally omit this set, blue and pink will still work just as well!)
6. Mix the banana mixture into the remaining bowl of coconut and add butterfly pea powder for a vibrant blue colour. 
7. Taste and adjust flavours and colours as needed. We like ours a little less sweet, as we prefer adding loads of toppings. 
8. Spoon into container, mixing the colours as you go. Top with whatever decorations you desire, we used pink edible glitter, because why not.
9. Pop into freezer for 3 hours to set, pull out of the freezer for 5 minutes before serving and use a scoop warmed under hot water for a perfectly round ice cream scoop. 
10. You can take this mix out in a couple of hours for a chilled mousse-like ice cream. Freeze overnight for a firmer ice cream.
11. This will keep in the freezer for up to one week, but ours never lasts. Enjoy! 

If you make these, be sure to take a photo and tag us @healthfoodproject, #hfp or #hfpmixes!
We love seeing your kitchen creations.