“Pour yourself into each moment. By immersing ourselves in a song, we become part of the music.”
Guess what, y’all? It’s SUMMERTIME. And guess what that means?! ICE CREAM! Also, guess what this gal can’t have? Ice cream… You’ve heard me preach about my dairy free life (eye roll!), but I still try to get in a sneaky bite of it if my husband ever brings home a Ben & Jerry’s pint, heavily regretting it later. Anyways—I have made quite the dairy free and vegan ice cream slice for you today! It’s so refreshing. so magical. so necessary!
What is even MORE exciting is the chocolate hazelnut base! I’ve partnered up with Wild Friends Foods to make this kick ass chocolate hazelnut cookie-like raw crust. But who am I kidding, I consume Wild Friends nut butters so often, it’s not like this jar wouldn’t have been in our cupboard anyways! What do I love so dang much about their spreads?! They’re no BS, that’s what. They aren’t loaded with refined sugars and oils, just good old whole ingredients. I mean, take this chocolate hazelnut spread, for example. It has got some hazelnuts, some cocoa, a bit of sugar, and boom. THAT’S IT! It’s so simple, which makes for baking with, and consuming by the spoonful, so dang easy!
Okay, so let me get back to this recipe! I love nothing more in the heat than some fruit, some popsicles, anything that will allow me to cool off from the 90+ degrees and the 100%+ humidity that is Atlanta in the summertime. I’ve been consuming popsicles like NO OTHER for my late-night snack, yet still craving some ice cream, so that’s where this berry slice comes in. It’s got fruit, it’s got chocolate, it’s got that popsicle/ice cream feel—woof, this baby is perfect! It is truly sweetened by the fruit, nothing crazy added, which is alllll that we need these days!
Does this go over my one-nap time limit? Sure! But that’s really inactive time, if you will. At this point, Oliver loves chilling in his highchair, playing with all of the toys, so he’s totally content doing that while I quickly whip this baby up and throw it in the freezer to set! Did I mention that he has started to eat FOOD!!?? This encourages me to make even more things with whole ingredients so he can join me! Sure, we are in the single food per week, all mashed up phase, but soon he can get his own piece of this frozen berry slice!! *Instant smile*
Enough rambling about my FIVE-month-old baby’s eating habits, get yourself started on this thing so you can have a slice by afternoon snack time!!
chocolate hazelnut base ingredients
Coconut Flour—5 oz, or 1 ¼ C
Cocoa Powder—1 oz, or 1/3 C
Shredded Coconut—0.75 oz, or 1/3 C
Coconut Oil—2 TBL
Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread—6 oz, or ½ C + 1 TBL
process
In your food processor or blender, combine all ingredients and pulse until combined
This mixture should be wet enough that it holds together when pinched, otherwise add in a TBL more of the Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread
Press into a tart pan or an 8”x8” baking dish
Set aside in the fridge until ready to use
berry filling ingredients
Cashews, soaked for 4 hours—9.5 oz, or 2 C
Berries—10-11 oz, 2 C
Vanilla Extract—1 tsp
Coconut Oil, melted—2 oz, or ¼ C
Coconut Cream—4 oz, or ½ C
Honey—2 tsp
process
In a blender, combine all ingredients
Blend until becomes homogenous
This is quite thick, so don’t feel as if you need to add more liquid! Just continue to scrape and blend until all combined
Pour this filling evenly into your prepared tart pan
Put in freezer for at least 2 hours prior to serving
Slice and serve with fresh fruit and more Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread (trust me!!)
Note: if you allow this to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving, the texture is perfect!
Bon Appétit!