Chaga-Vanilla Bean Mesquite Ice Cream with hand-made raw crust

Topped with Cacao & Maca powder

My first ever created Chaga dessert recipe. Then I got thinking...is this even dessert?! haha. Here is a nourishing recipe with filling natural fats, immunity boosting properties, balances blood sugar levels thanks to the Stevia & Mesquite powder, promotes healthy skin, & protects against infection.

I've come across various awesome creative looking Chaga recipes and have always wanted to try using Chaga myself for a delicious recipe.

Ok, ok, what in the world is Chaga? Chaga is a fungus found growing on birch trees. It is rich in a substance that destroys cancer cells. There are studies on Chaga showing that it protects our DNA & has protective antioxidants. It is one of the most potent medicinal mushrooms. It is loaded with flavonoids, vitamins, polyphenols, and polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are long carbohydrate molecules of monosaccharaides. These are health promoting sugars that strengthen the immune system. This fungus resembles charcoal. It is hard and dry. It has a black rough coating on the outside.

If you get your hands on some,  please don't give it mean ugly looks and poke at it. Get curious, take it in your hands, and let your eyes wonder all over this crazy amazing wild food. If you smell it very carefully you may detect a very mild vanilla aroma to it.

Chaga Chunks

 

This ice cream recipe has a delicious flavor and is mildly sweet. I really love the combination of Coconut, Mesquite, & Vanilla.

 

I did not have my food processor in the kitchen so I made the crust by hand and it came out so lovely! I was a little bummed out of not having my food processor with me  at first but it felt really good getting down and dirty with my hands and creating it all by use of my hands. Check it out!

 





 

 

Recipe:

Filling: (makes about 3 small ice cream balls)
-1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours.
-1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons Chaga tea at room temperature.
-2 1/2 teaspoons Mesquite powder (if you don't have Mesquite you could try using Chocolate powder, Cacao is best for pure medicinal chocolate)
-8 drops Stevia extract
-3/4 Vanilla Bean scraped
-1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
--1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
-2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, melted & set aside.

Blend all the ingredients on high speed except for the melted Coconut Oil. Once your mixture is well blended, slowly pour in the warm Coconut Oil as the blender runs on low speed. Freeze.

Melting the coconut oil in the small green bowl in med-low heat

Hand-made crust:
-6 soft Medjool Dates
-1 oz plain almonds (unpasteurized would be better)
-3 teaspoons Hemp Seeds
-Light sprinkles of Sea Salt

This crust had an amazing flavor and thick chewy texture

 

Chop your almonds into small pieces. Remove the pit of the Medjool Dates and rough chop them. Over a plate, combine all the ingredients together by hand to create like a dough. Once you have a thick dough mixture, flatten it out and cut it into thirds to shape up the mini crusts so your small scoops of ice cream can fit in them. This dough keeps in the refrigerator for a week. You can double the recipe and eat it as a snack. Or you can freeze it.

The ice cream takes about a half hour to thaw. Use an ice cream scooper and place inside your mini crusts. Enjoy!

Eating it as an afternoon snack throughout the week

http://www.naturalnews.com/036974_chaga_mushroom_anti-cancer_tonic.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysaccharide#Bacterial_capsular_polysaccharides