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Dairy-free Cashew Cream for Breakfast Parfaits & more!

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Dairy-free cashew cream in a breakfast parfait with raspberries & nutty granola

This is a nice option to have around for a weekend brunch, as it enhances a lot of dishes – topped on fruit salad, granola, pancakes, waffles, or made into a breakfast parfait or a fruit dip. It’s very easy to make, and only has 4 ingredients. I imagine that you could add flavours like cinnamon, ginger, lemon or orange zest to elevate the flavour of your sweet dish even more. I’m going to try it as a dairy-free substitute in recipes that call for yogurt! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes on our Facebook & Instagram pages.

Cashew Cream Parfait
 
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Layer cashew cream with your choice of chopped dried fruits, fresh or frozen fruit, nuts, seeds, or granola. We’ve also spread it on top of pancakes!
Cuisine: dairy free, gluten-free, vegan
Serves: 1 cup
Ingredients
  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight (or at least 3 hours), rinsed & drained
  • ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (plus 1-2 Tbsp more, if needed)
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to the blender and gradually increase speed to blend on high, adding more almond milk, as needed.
  2. Blend on high for a good 30-60 seconds, until it is smooth & creamy.
  3. Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

 

3 Ingredient Mango Creamsicle (dairy-free, gluten-free)

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*Creamy Mango Popsicle*

Yes, our last post was also a popsicle recipe, but with summer on it’s way it is just so gratifying to eat (at least) one popsicle per day. 

The already sweet mango is elevated by adding a touch of honey, which also balances the sometimes strong flavour of the coconut cream. You could use other sweeteners to make it vegan (agave syrup, coconut or cane sugar, etc), but the mango & honey do “marry” well together.

3 Ingredient Mango Creamsicle (dairy-free, gluten-free)
 
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Fresh mangos give a nice buttery creamy texture to the unfrozen popsicle, whereas you can get nice little fruit chunks in your popsicle when using frozen mango chunks. We like blending it until everything is smooth & creamy.
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Serves: 6-10
Ingredients
  • 4-5 cups ripe mango chunks, fresh or frozen (or both!)
  • 1 can coconut milk (unshaken! As we'll use mostly just the cream)
  • 1-2 Tbsp honey
Instructions
  1. Place mango chunks & honey in a high powered blender.
  2. Scoop in coconut cream (the thick top layer in the can of coconut milk). If its summer time, you may have to refrigerate your can of coconut milk for a day to separate the cream from the water.
  3. Add in coconut water in small amounts - just enough to allow your blender to blend everything into a smooth creamy mixture (if using frozen chunks you may need to add all of the water, but if using fresh then you won't need much). Blend until you've reached your desired consistency.
  4. The key to a creamy popsicle is adding as little water as possible.
  5. Scoop into popsicle molds. Freeze for at least 8 hours.
  6. Enjoy as a snack or dessert!

Strawberry-Blueberry Ice Cream-Popsicles (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan)

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Dairy-free Blueberry Popsicles

Confusing title, right? But, I wanted to pay homage to the two beautiful berries that could potentially make up this versatile dessert. There are many other frozen berry & fruit options that you could use to create a refreshing ice cream (served now) or creamy popsicle (served later) — the possibilities are endless & also delicious! We have had the best success using strawberries & blueberries, because they are both naturally sweet fruit, but I imagine that frozen mango & peaches would also be delicious! We’ve also tried berry mixes with mainly raspberries and blackberries, but we found that you need to add more sweetener to make up for the tartness of the berries, which takes away from the fresh berry flavour.

Our daughter affectionately calls the strawberry version “Pink possicle” or “Pink ice cream” (depending on what form it’s in), and asks for it no matter what season it is. It makes for a nice ice cream-like dessert to enjoy after a meal, or as an afternoon snack (or before bed…or as part of breakfast….). It is best served immediately if you want to enjoy it as ice cream, or pour into popsicle molds to be enjoyed later. 

You’ll need a high powered blender such as a Vitamix in order to get the frozen ingredients blended into a creamy mixture. I haven’t tried making it in a food processor, but if you try it, let us know how it works out!

Strawberry/Blueberry Ice Cream Popsicles
 
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Enjoy this delicious berry ice cream immediately after making, or pour into popsicle molds to enjoy later.
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Recipe type: dairy-free, dessert
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 generous cups frozen strawberries or blueberries
  • 1 medium banana, frozen
  • 1 can high fat coconut milk (*do not shake as we want to keep the cream & water separated)
  • 6-8 ice cubes
  • ¼ tsp vanilla (optional)
  • sweetener: 1-2 Tbsp cane or coconut sugar, 2-3 medjool dates, or 3-4 pitted baking dates (soaked in warm water for 5-10mins)
Instructions
  1. Place berries, frozen banana, sweetener, vanilla (if using) and ice cubes in a high powered blender such as the Vitamix.
  2. Scoop the thick coconut cream layer in with the other ingredients. Add a few Tbsp coconut water and start blending - slowly turning the blender speed to high.
  3. If the mixture needs more liquid, stop the blender & add a few more Tbsp of coconut water. (Sometimes you'll use all of the coconut water & other times you'll just need a little bit)
  4. Blend just until mixture turns creamy.
  5. *Too much blending will heat up the ice cream and make it more runny. Too little blending will give you a creamy texture, but with tiny ice crystals... which all still tastes delicious. But, to get an ice-creamy consistency, I gradually increase the blender to high and when the mixture just starts to easily turn in on itself, then I know it's done.

Caught in the act

Caught in the act