I bought a package of lacuma powder yesterday...one of those things like 'oh, so this is lacuma that I've been reading about'...soooooooooo, I get home and start reading more up on it (short memory from what it's used for) and I see it's used as a sweetener, tastes like maple syrup and good for me.
This morning I made a smoothie and because I had new ingredients and used a few of them I'm not sure if I tasted the lacuma.
Does anyone use it for smoothies and how much and what else do you use it for???
Lucuma Ice Cream (equipment needed: High Speed Blender)
Makes 2 cups
A rich creamy gelato-like ice cream popular in South America, this flavor is reminiscent of caramel. You don’t need an ice cream maker to enjoy this recipe. Just blend and freeze. Super fast and easy. As always, this recipe is gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, dairy free, and good for you!
BTW, the “K” in kream isn’t a typo. I use “k”s for my vegan ‘k’reams.
1/2 cup LUCUMA POWDER
1 cup CASHEWS
1 Tablespoon VANILLA POWDER
1/4 cup YACON SYRUP
1 cup filtered water
Rawbie's note: If yacon syrup is not available, you can use honey, maple syrup or maple sugar instead.
The vanilla bean is the fruit of certain varieties of tropical orchids. It originated in Mexico, but today is also cultivated in such exotic places as Tahiti, Madagascar and Bali. Vanilla is truly an intoxicating smell and taste experience.
VANILLA POWDER, as called for in some of the recipes, is simply ground vanilla bean: Cut 3 vanilla beans into small pieces, put them into a nut (or coffee) grinder, and grind as fine as possible. Store in a small glass jar in the refrigerator, and use as needed. It keeps for months. If it develops an off smell, then discard; but I've never had this happen. The alternative to making the vanilla powder would be to just cut a small piece of vanilla from the pod. Cut into small pieces and blend into the recipe. Depending on the quality of your equipment, it may or may not break down completely, and get blended.
If your vanilla bean is too moist and doesn't powder up in the nut mill, then leave the vanilla bean out at room temperature for a couple of days so that it dries a bit. Under no circumstances put the vanilla bean in a food dehydrator, because it will lose all its flavor. You could even grind up this moist vanilla bean, but it will come out like the texture of ground tobacco, instead of as a powder. This has just as much flavor and works just as well in the recipes. Store in the refrigerator.
VANILLA WATER: Cut 2 vanilla beans into pieces, grind in a nut grinder, then put the powder into the blender with 1/2 cup of filtered water and blend well. This will keep in the refrigerator for about 3-4 weeks; after that, it will ferment. You can also freeze the vanilla water in ice cube trays and pop out a cube as needed. Frozen, it keeps much longer.
Both of the above can be used as substitutes for commercial vanilla extract which, besides containing alcohol, may be extracted with solvents. Solvents have no place in a healthy diet. Commercial vanilla extract may also contain other additives.
I think this is why you never see vanilla sold in a powder form like other spices. Actually, I have seen vanilla powder sold in some specialty stores, but then it is loaded with additives and I doubt it is a natural vanilla at all.
The reason why I didn't mention agave nectar as a possible replacement for yacon syrup in Ani's ice kream recipe is because it is lacking a deep and rich flavor. In case anyone is not familiar, yacon syrup is very full-bodied. It is often compared to molasses, caramel, or honey. So in order to achieve the flavor needed for that ice kream recipe, it is advisable to use either honey, maple syrup or maple sugar. I did try the recipe with organic grade B maple syrup and it was heavenly!
By the way, you can use the same proportion (1/4 cup) for which the recipe calls if other type of sweetener is used in place of yacon syrup.
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