Vegan ice cream in Spain? YES! It's everywhere!!!

I’ve been doing some travelling lately and I wanted to report how this has worked out for my vegan diet.  One thing that I have really grown accustomed to in the US is being able to get a variety of delicious vegan ice cream flavors.  Especially during my recent hot summer travels in Spain, I wanted to be able to enjoy this special cold sweet treat at least every once in a while (or every day…).  To all my vegans/dairy-free/lactose-intolerant friends out there I want you to know that it is very easy to enjoy ice cream in Spain!  I think perhaps even easier than it is to find at ice cream shops in the US.  I was afraid that, especially, when travelling outside the big cities, it would be impossible to find.  However, to my surprise, every single ice cream store/stand that I encountered had something for me – and all but one had more flavors than the typical fruity sorbets. In fact, the next most popular flavor was a dark chocolate which accommodated my ice cream and chocolate fix all at once!  Just ask for “vegano” or “helado sin leche” (“ice cream without milk”) to learn about their dairy-free options and you’ll be good to go! 

Here are some of my favorites:

 This beautiful (too large) masterpiece that I eventually had to share with others is from a shop named Giolatto.  This one features "chocolate", "vanailla", and "avellana" (hazelnut).

And this one was so artfully made that I almost hated to eat it!  This cone flower from the shop Amorino features "chocolate', "avellana" and just a couple petals of a tart berry which I believe was the "frambuesa" (raspberry).

This is seriously now my very favorite sweet baked bread treat - and it's especially great now that blueberries are in season!! If you like banana bread, you will LOVE this recipe - I guarantee it! This unique recipe happened by adding some fun ingredients to regular banana bread, and making some vegan substitutes to the classic recipes. And this is really my favorite over any other classic banana breads I've tried! I usually make a couple loaves at a time, but here’s the recipe for just one in a standard 8.5” x 4.5” baking pan. 

Ingredients: 

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup sugar 

2/3 cup applesauce 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3 bananas, very ripe, mashed 

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 

1/2 cup fresh blueberries 

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Step 2. Put your very ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork. 

Step 3. Sift your flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into the bowl. 

Step 4. Add the applesauce, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. 

Step 5. Mix (well by hand with a large mixing spoon is usually fine) 

Step 6. Add walnuts, chocolate chips, and blueberries. 

Step 7. Gently mix to even out the last added ingredients. 

Step 8. Lightly coat baking pan with vegetable oil (or lightly with non-stick spray) 

Step 9. Pour mixture into pan 

Step 10. Bake bread (uncovered) on middle rack for approximately 45 minutes 

Enjoy for breakfast, snack, or dessert! I have not met a person yet who did not like this!