Strawberry-Banana Cake Batter Ice Cream

So what if I don’t have a complete kitchen right now? I can still make food that doesn’t require actual cooking. Plus, we have electricity and running water in other places around the house. I have to tell you, though, of all the things I am missing the most right now, it’s the kitchen sink. Good thing I know how to camp and clean dishes in unusual places.  It has been a while since I’ve actually camped, so this is a good refresher course in camp sanitation. Note to self: Build recipe collection of Dutch oven recipes. Minimal clean-up. Happy self.

I had some strawberries and a lone banana that had gone unnoticed by the grandmunchkins and when I was cleaning out the cupboards I had found a partially used box of cake mix. I knew that I had had some left-over cake mix somewhere, but where it had disappeared was a mystery. My previous ‘pantry’ was like a black hole where many things got lost and other things would suddenly come flying out at me when I opened the door.

It seemed a natural progression of thoughts to put these ingredients together in an ice cream. I almost never tire of strawberries and bananas. The ice cream base is incredibly easy to put together, just mix everything in the blender. I threw this ice cream together one evening, processed it in my little ice cream maker, let it ripen in the freezer overnight, and then had it for breakfast the next morning. What? Doesn’t everyone eat ice cream for breakfast? Which reminds me of a story….

My husband used to travel a lot for work when our children were young. I would always go into a little bit of a cooking funk whenever John left town. Late one afternoon I decided to take the kids for ice cream at a local ice cream parlor. This particular place was known for serving large quantities. I told the kids that they could order anything on the menu. You should have seen the look on their faces; they were ecstatic! They dug into their ice cream creations and started gobbling with free abandon. Finally one of the kids stopped eating and, with a puzzled look and slight hesitation in his voice, asked, “Mom? Um, what are we having for dinner?”

“You’re eating it,” I answered with a grin.

The kids looked at each other with wide eyes and then started giggling uncontrollably. “We’re having ice cream for dinner!!!!!”

It’s not often that a mom gets to see ALL of the kids happy about ‘what’s for dinner’. I look back on that day as one of the shining moments of personal excellence in my life. For an hour I was a queen among mothers; she who reigned as the planet’s rockingest mom in the eyes of her children. One whole hour! And then they all got sick to their stomachs. Literally. Oh well, at least I had my moment.

Something fun. When I took a jar of strawberry freezer jam out of the freezer and opened it, there were these very cool large ice crystals on the lid. I have always been mesmerized by crystal formations, particularly ice crystals.

Print Recipe

Strawberry-Banana-Cake Batter Ice Cream

Fresh strawberries and bananas join with a packaged cake mix to make this yummy ice cream. There are no worries about eggs in the cake batter because all of the cake batter flavor comes from dry cake mix!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Chilling and Freezing4 hours hrs

Total Time4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 0 Makes approximately 4 1/2 cups of ice cream base.

Author: Terri @ that's some good cookin'

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (8 ounces, weight) strawberries, quartered
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dry yellow, white, or strawberry cake mix (unprepared)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• strawberry topping, optional (I used some strawberry freezer jam)

Instructions

• Put the strawberries, banana, sugar, and half and half into a blender and puree.
• Add the cake mix and vanilla. Process for a few seconds until all ingredients are incorporated.
• Add the heavy cream and pulse several times until cream has been well incorporated.
• Pour ice cream base into an appropriate container and refrigerate to chill.
• Once the ice cream base has chilled, pour it into the bucket of your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.
• After processing, put the ice cream into a bowl or other container, seal, and place in the freezer for several hours to allow the ice cream to get firm (ripen).
• For serving, top with strawberry topping or fresh fruit, if desired.

Notes

The dry cake batter does not contain eggs or egg products. 

 

This recipe has been shared at the following blogs:

• Michelle’s Tasty Creations and Crafty Ideas link party #10
• DJ’s Sugar Shack–Whatcha’ Whipped Up Wednesday

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