Bananas are an important crop in Mozambique, especially to small farm owners. There is a banana cake that they enjoy in Mozambique that has coconut and cashews in it- two things we can’t have in our house due to Martin’s allergies. Plus we had already made a different banana cake in Papua New Guinea, so I really wanted to try something different. So this recipe is not from Mozambique but instead is inspired by it.

Banana Ice Cream

Vanilla and Chocolate choco-chip one right after the other in the same food processor.

Ingredients

• 4 large ripe bananas
• 4 Tbs maple syrup
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method

Vanilla

Start by slicing your banana into medallions and separate them on to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place the bananas into the freezer and allow to freeze solid about 2 hours or overnight.

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In a food processor, place half the banana coins, blend until it starts to become smooth with some chunks.

Add 2 Tbs of maple syrup and 1 tsp of vanilla, blend again until a smooth consistency is reached.

Place ice cream in a freezer safe container and put it in the freezer for a few hours to harden. You will be able to scoop it out like conventional ice cream once it has time to set.

Chocolate

In the same food processor, place the other half of the banana coins.

Blend until it is only slightly chunky, add 2 Tbs maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla and 3 Tbs good quality cocoa powder.

Blend till smooth. Put the ice cream in a freezer safe container, add chocolate chips and stir in by hand.

Place in the freezer to allow it to firm up.

Enjoy!

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Marimba

The marimba is a musical instrument much like the xylophone but the keys are wooden and have resonators below the keys. Marimbas are very important and popular in Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe. A few weeks ago we took a look back at some of our previously visited African countries. We focused on the different musical instruments from all over Africa and one of those instruments is the marimba.

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To check out the awesomeness that is a marimba you can find it here!

For more African music check out our revisits to Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.