Warning: picture heavy post! Before I dive in to the delights of this Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with Cayenne, let’s talk men and gifts. How many times as you asked yourself “what should I get him”? And “him” can be your boyfriend/husband, dad, brother, or friend. It seems to be the ever asked, yet rarely answered, question.
Buying gifts for girls? Easy! Jewelry, perfume, clothes, kitchen gadgets, candles, music, something for the house, gift card, spa card…{secretly hoping Josh is reading this…and taking note}, but guys, not so much. And if you do have a good idea, chances are you’ve already bought or done something similar before.
SO, where am I going with this? Man Crates {Gifts for Men}, if you haven’t heard of this company, check them out! Man Crate’s mission is to end the difficulties that have long been associated with buying gifts for men! And I’m excited to say they have reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in sharing with my readers a little bit about their company. They have been working on an essential cookout crate campaign for the end of summer and asked if I’d like to share a post with 4-5 must have, essential items for hosting a fun summer cookout! Whether that be a family BBQ sauce recipe, the perfect outdoor games, a favorite summer sweet… you get the idea.
Naturally I wanted to jump on board as I love their mission. However, I really wanted to use my own photographs and I couldn’t see that happening without actually hosting a BBQ. If you’ve followed along here for long, you likely know that Josh and I just moved in to a new {old} house and the list of things to-do seems to be ever-growing. Hosting a BBQ just didn’t seem like an option with everything going on. However, Man Crates had completely inspired me. With everything going on with my mom’s health this past year, we have spent a lot of time at my parent’s home trying to help take care of her and provide some relief to my dad and cousin – Josh has been so very generous and supportive through all of this and more than once I’ve thought of wanting to do something special to focus on him and show him how much I love and appreciate his support.
SO, while a BBQ didn’t feel manageable, a picnic for two, with some of his favorites, did! I contacted Man Crates to see if they thought this might work and they loved the idea. While I would have loved to have made a huge meal for him with candles and the works, I realized that would have been more for ME. For him, a simple evening with just the two of us, time together and a few of his favorite things is much more his style.
Had I been purchasing one of these amazing Man Crates, I think I would have opted for the Outdoor Survival Ammo Can or perhaps the Outdoor Survival Crate and planned a day hike to one of our favorite trails in the area. Another crate that is right us his alley, although stocked with Root Beer in place of traditional beer, would be the NFL Barware Crate {Go 49ers!} scheduled to arrive in time for a day of Sunday football. I love that these gifts literally show up at your door, in a crate, with a crowbar, ready to open. Seriously, genius!
But for now, I am tucking these gift ideas away for another day and decided to do my own little “crate” of some of his favorites.
My “Man Crate” for Josh:
- 1. An evening together
- 2. Simple food {rather than my time being eaten up preparing it}, such as our favorite Trader Joe’s Organic Woodfired Sicilian Style Pizza.
- 3. Root Beer
- 4. Chocolate {with Cayenne}
And that last point is where this Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with Cayenne comes in! I knew I wanted to have a recipe to share with you in this post and when thinking about some of Josh’s favorite things, I kept coming back to his recent love for chocolate and cayenne. This seems to be a popular pairing these days, we first stumbled upon it at Jeni’s Spendid Ice Cream, then found it in Gourmet Chocolate stores – truffle style, and have since seen it prepared a few other ways.
I immediately thought of my Banana Ice Cream with Peanuts and my Avocado Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and wanted to recreate this banana ice cream with a dark chocolate flavoring combined with a little kick. I was thrilled with the outcome and I think he was, too! However, next time I’ll start with an 1/8 teaspoon cayenne and go from there, the 1/4 was just a hint hotter than I intended, but still good!
Okay, so the warning should have said picture-heavy AND text-heavy! Sorry, but I hope you enjoy reading about Man Crates and give this Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with Cayenne a try! Happy Friday!
Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with Cayenne
Ingredients
- 2-3 frozen bananas I used 2 1/2
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper we used 1/4 but you may want to start with 1/8 and check the hotness
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
Instructions
- Chop frozen bananas, then add to food processor. Pulse 5-6 times, then let run for 10 seconds or until bananas are smooth and creamy.
- Add in cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, cayenne, and maple syrup and blend until mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Add in dark chocolate chunks and pulse another 5-7 times, or until chocolate chunks are mixed in, but still in pieces for a crunch.
- Add mixture to freezer safe contain and put in freezer for at least 30-45 minutes. The mixture is like a soft serve ice cream after about 20 minutes, but firms up like hard scoop ice cream after about 45 minutes to an hour. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
