Cinnamon roll soft serve

The next N'ice cream creation I wanted to test out was something that had to do with frozen bananas. As the Monkey madness ice cream I made, sold and devoured on Koh Phangan was such an amazing step into the land of banana ice cream, I couldn't wait to take one step further. Since cinnamon is one of my all time favourite spices (along with turmeric and ginger) and I absolutely adore cinnamon rolls, the choice was pretty easy. Cinnamony soft serve! How could that be bad?

So off to the work I went. My mom's new blender didn't co-operate with the frozen bananas as well as the food processor back on KPG, so the consistency became quite thin as I had to blend it for a while to get all the bananas to let go of their solid form. I stuck the mass into the freezer for a while to think about things and wait for its fate. Quite cruel, I know, but sometimes needs must.

Runny, cold things have always had a special place in my heart. Let's take a trip down memory lane. When I was a kid, my favourite kind of ice cream treat consisted of banana slices, vanilla ice cream, heaps and heaps of caramel sauce and sprinkles. Nothing earth shattering here, I know, but wait, it gets better. The best part was to mush the ice cream and bananas and let it melt into a runny, vanilla-caramelly goo. An ice cream soup! I was a genious already as a kid, apparently :D

Back to today: This cinnamon creation wasn't as runny as my childhood treat, but it was good nonetheless. The only thing I'd do differently next time would be to wait for the bananas to ripen a little more. Now the ice cream tasted mainly of slightly too yellow bananas, while the other subtle flavours were a bit lost. And maybe add more cinnamon. There can never be too much cinnamon! But it was still so good we gobbled it up with my mom in no time.

Cinnamon roll soft serve

Recipe from the lovely N'ice cream bible
2 servings


Cinnamon roll mixture

1/2 dl almonds

1/2 dl pecans

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon (add more for a fuller flavour)

1/2 tsp ground cardamom (same here, I'd say it's safe to add more)

5 fresh dates, pitted

1/2 dl water


Ice cream

3 ripe bananas, chopped and frozen

3 tbsp coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract/powder


Add almonds, pecans, cinnamon and cardamom into a blender and blend into a fine crumble. Add one date and blend some more. Scrape half of the mixture into a bowl (the mixture should be dry but formable. Mine was more on the crumbly side, so maybe I should have added one more date).

Add the rest of the dates and water into the blender (the remaining half of the cinnamon mixture is already waiting for company there) and blend into an even paste. This worked better with a hand mixer than a blender. Scrape the mixture into another bowl.

Wash and dry the blender. Add frozen bananas, coconut milk and vanilla and blend into a soft serve. You might have to scrape the sides of the blender jug with a spoon a couple of times before the mass will have the right consistency. Scrape the ice cream mixture into the bowl that has the softer cinnamon roll mixture and stir. Divide into bowls and sprinkle crumbles of the drier mass on top. Serve and enjoy!