In New Zealand we have many strange national icons - giant carrot sculptures, an array of peculiar flightless birds, chewy pineapple candy, sugar sticks that look like cigarettes, and gumboots (or wellies, to those of you who aren't familiar). Perhaps the most delicious of them all comes in the form of a 'Jelly Tip' - iced confectionery on a stick with 2/3 vanilla icecream, 1/3 gooey electric pink jelly, and a crackling chocolate shell. No summer roadtrip is complete without a stop at the dairy to refuel with Jelly Tips, Frujus, and Choc Bars, thus my summers have been pretty inauthentic for quite some time now.
If you go into a supermarket in New Zealand on any given day, I can guarantee that you'll find a 2 litre tub of gorgeous, hot pink rippled chocolate chip icecream sitting in the freezer. It used to be my favourite sweet treat - sour berry jelly, creamy vanilla icecream, crunchy chocolate shards littered throughout. It was this variation of Jelly Tip that the following recipe is based upon - but instead of a dairy and refined-sugar laden treat, it's made purely from fruit, vanilla, and cacao nibs. How's that for basic?
Cue this sloppy, pink mess; the result of my first attempt at photographing my sundae. What a beautiful way to destroy a gorgeous gold-rimmed glass, it's wonderfully gooey contents, and a little piece of my dignity. Unintentional (and rather costly) art! Many compared it to roadkill and blood, but I think it looks stunning.
INGREDIENTS
CHOCOLATE CHIP ICECREAM
3 bananas, previously chopped and frozen
1/2 teaspoon of Heilala vanilla bean powder
1 tablespoon of cacao nibs
MEXICAN PINK 'JELLY' RIPPLE
3 frozen boysenberries
TOPPINGS
Cacao nibs
Leftover boysenberry juice
METHOD
- First, make the jelly ripple by placing the frozen boysenberries in a small saucepan and heating gently until defrosted. Drain some of the liquid out into a separate bowl (to prevent excessive discolouration of the icecream), and set both juice and berry pulp aside.
- Make the icecream by blending the frozen bananas in a food processor until fluffy and creamy. Pulse in the vanilla bean powder, then stir the cacao nibs in by hand. Dollop tablespoons of the icecream into your chosen bowl/glass, then spoon small amounts of the berry pulp over the top and swirl with a fork. Repeat until you have used all the pulp and icecream, then drizzle with the leftover juice and sprinkle with additional cacao nibs. Eat immediately.