Nothing better in this heat than to make a simple blue cornflower nana cream ice cream.
What are nana creams? Nana comes from banana, they are “fake ice creams” without cream, made with frozen banana. A simple and healthy ice cream to make at home, in a thousand variations.
In this case, I added canned coconut milk to the banana, a teaspoon of blue spirulina (more on this at the end of the article) and decorated with cornflower petals.
Today, with my friends from the #erbeefiorinelpiatto column, we are talking about cornflower, this wonderful blue flower.
The scientific name of the Cornflower is Cyanus Segetum, cyan comes from Greek and means blue, while segetum comes from Latin and means sown grain field. Indeed, cornflowers are almost always found in grain fields together with poppies. Thanks for the beautiful photo provided by Tiziana Colombo.
The cornflower is mainly used as an eye decongestant. In fact, the principle contained in cornflower reduces swelling and inflammation around the eye area.
One can prepare a cornflower tea, let it cool, and then apply it as an eye compress.
In cooking, it is mostly used as a dish decoration, given its wonderful color.
You can see other ice cream and nana cream recipes here:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Day
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Other
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients for Blue Cornflower Nana Cream Ice Cream
- 1 banana
- 3 1/2 oz coconut milk (canned)
- 1 teaspoon blue spirulina
- 1 teaspoon cornflower petals
Tools
- 1 Ice cream scoop
Steps for Blue Cornflower Nana Cream Ice Cream
First, the day before, slice the banana, sprinkle with lemon juice, place in a container, and store in the freezer.
Put a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator.
The next day, remove the banana from the freezer, blend well in a blender. Add only the creamy part of the chilled coconut milk and a teaspoon of blue spirulina.
Run the blender for a minute, stopping and mixing everything together
Transfer to a container and place in the freezer for a couple of hours to firm up.
Use an ice cream scoop to shape the balls and place them in a dish. Sprinkle with cornflower petals.
You can see other recipes dedicated to the herbs and flowers in the dish column, which this month discusses cornflower:
Elisa: Cornflower and Pea Risotto
Miria: Cornflower Salmon and Mango Salad
Tiziana: Cornflower Sorbet
Timo e Lenticchie Tips
Leave the ice cream in the freezer and blend it at the last moment, try many other variations with hazelnuts, chocolate, caramel.
In this recipe, I used blue spirulina, which contains Phycocyanin with important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Just 5 grams in 300 g of product is enough to achieve a beautiful natural blue color. I use Becagli spirulina which is certified Italian.
