I once pondered about what to do with seriously ripe ripe fruit such as bananas and strawberries that i saw going to waste in supermarkets. That was until i decided to freeze the fruit and then pull them out to combine them with coconut milk to make an instant desert – Yum!

So below is a recipe for a dairy free dessert that includes a splash of cocoa, peppermint and lavender to create a gorgeous floral caramel flavor. Added … its a yummy way to have a delicious desert and get the goodness of coconut into your diet. Coconut fat, present in unaltered (ie NOT low fat) coconut milk has very beneficial fatty acids. Indulge!

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas – frozen

1/8 teaspoon / pinch of salt

300ml / 3/4 of a can of Full Fat organic Coconut Milk

3 level tablespoons raw organic fair trade cocoa powder

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 tablespoon lavender flowers

Recipe:

Pop all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed … et voila!

I really invite you to play with this recipe – such as adding in ripe, frozen berries. Another idea is cooking the bananas in sugar to make a caramel sauce (use fresh, ripe and mashed bananas) and then chilling when done in the freezer before mixing with the coconut milk

Nutritional benefits:

Coconut: Functional benefits: Blood Glucose regulation and promoting weight loss; Immune enhancement

Banana: Functional benefits: lowering blood pressure, protecting against heart disease and strokes – due to potassium; cholesterol lowering and colon health – due to pectin content

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: Please buy fair trade fruit and cocoa due to the slavery effects that Big Industry exerts on growers of these crops

Adapted from:

Murray, M. (2005). Encyclopedia of Healing Food. New York, N.Y.: Atria Books

Hoogerhyde, K., Walker, A., Gough, D. (2012). Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones. New York, N.Y.: Ten Speed Press