Turn Your Frozen Fruit Into Tasty 'Nice Cream' This Summer

There's nothing quite like a handful of frozen grapes or frozen blueberries added atop your morning yogurt bowl during those hot and long summer months. If you're a fan of frozen fruit, you might already know that frozen fruit is better for maximum nutrients than canned. Yet, you may not have known that in most cases, frozen fruit is also just as nutritious as fresh. Apart from frozen fruits' nutritional benefits, this icy produce is handy to have around during the hotter season since it can be eaten on its own or transformed into one of many refreshing snack alternatives.

If you've grown tired of eating plain frozen strawberries out of a bowl and need a little something extra, you can try making "nice cream." Similar to milk and cream-based ice cream in terms of consistency, nice cream is essentially frozen fruit that has been blended with a base of frozen bananas to create that quintessential ice cream texture. The best part about nice cream is you can create a delicious frozen dessert by tailor-making the treat to fit your personal preferences. Before diving into some important tips to make the creamiest nice cream, here's the basic step-by-step process behind making this fruity delight at home. 

In order to make ice cream you can have for breakfast, the first and most crucial ingredient to secure is frozen bananas. If you don't already have a few stored away in your freezer, you can either freeze bananas whole, or slice bananas into thick coins and freeze them on a parchment-lined baking sheet for a few hours before transferring to a resealable plastic bag.

Once you have one or two frozen bananas ready to go, depending on how much nice cream you're wanting to make, add the frozen slices and any other frozen fruit of your choice into a high-powdered blender or food processor. If you're using a food processor, opt for the blade attachment and blend your frozen fruit for a minute until finely chopped. 

From here, in order to achieve just the right level of creaminess, add a small amount of your favorite milk (dairy or non-dairy) and blend the mixture for a full minute or two before spooning your nice cream into a sealable container or loaf pan to harden for a few hours. If you're using a standard blender, you may need to add that splash of milk at the beginning to get things moving efficiently. Beyond these basic instructions, however, there are plenty of ways to elevate your nice cream and assure a deliciously creamy treat each and every time.

The best part about homemade nice cream is that it doesn't take much effort to turn frozen fruit into a creamy custard-like dessert. Yet, if you really want to make the most out of your frozen fruit, you'll want to keep a few additional factors in mind. First off, the bananas you use — especially if you're freezing them yourself — should be ripe and spotted. Ripe bananas assure a naturally sweet frozen treat. Also, make sure you don't use too much milk. To get your homemade nice cream to mimic creamy soft-serve you really want to give your frozen fruits a chance to shine. When in doubt, add only a small splash of milk at a time, and adjust the consistency to your liking.

Besides these logistical factors, feel free to get creative and add in some of your favorite extras. When making homemade vanilla ice cream, you probably don't hold back on adding more texture and flavor with your favorite cookies, sprinkles, or nuts. With homemade nice cream, there are plenty of ways to elevate the standard mixture of frozen fruit and milk. Try a splash of vanilla extract or add in some of your favorite warming spices like cinnamon. You can also add some additional texture by throwing nuts or chocolate chips into the mix. This creamy and flavorful blend of frozen fruit and milk might just replace your nightly bowl of calorie-heavy ice cream this summer.