Smoothies are so in right now. Who wants a regular glass of juice when you can have an unctuous and velvety glass of fresh pureed fruits and veggies. I know I love em’. So when I was contacted to try out a Canadian smoothie product I was more then happy to do so.

Arthur’s Smoothies is a Canadian company that is dedicated to providing natural products that are good for your body and good for the earth. They use Canadian grown ingredients as best they can to the max. Now funny enough a lot of people think smoothies are less healthy then juices but that is usually not the case. Most juices are high in sugar and low in fiber. Arthur’s Smoothies are less processed therefore the nutrients remain and the pulp brings a higher fiber content. There are no additives at all, nothing concentrated.

Quite a few flavors are available and some with exotic fruits too like Goji Berry and Açai. I got two bottles: the Green Energy and the Carrot Energizer. I really enjoyed both juices a lot. Green Energy is made up of fruits (apple, banana, passion, plum, lemon), Spirulina, flax seed oil, as well as wheat and barley grasses. It sounds and may look granola but don’t let the scare you, it is really delicious. The Carrot Energizer is a mix of carrot and fruit juices so it is nothing like drinking a vegetable juice, this is a sweet smoothie. It contains carrot, apple, banana, passion, mango and lemon.

Now I wanted to come up with a recipe that included the smoothies as an ingredient. Not an easy job I tell you. I decided to use the carrot juice which was an even more difficult but after much searching I settled on an ice cream. Carrot? Ice Cream? Oh yes, a really nice Carrot Cake Ice Cream. You’ll find all the basic flavors of a slice of carrot cake in here, it is almost eerie. And how does it taste? Well let me put it this way my friend’s 18month old daughter had a bite and right away she let out a very audible…”Ummmmm”. Best compliment I could ask for, out of the mouth of babes!

Carrot Cake Ice Cream served on sponge cake & a kaffir lime leaf

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

1 cup Arthur’s Smoothies Carrot Energizer (or a carrot smoothie of your choice)
1 cup 10% cream
1/3 cup sugar (more if your smoothie is not sweet to start with)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup can pineapple, drained and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Ice Cream Machine
– Put carrot smoothie and cream in ice cream machine and start the machine
– Add the rest of the ingredients
– Follow ice cream machine instructions.

Hand made
– Mix all the ingredients
– Pour into a shallow container and freeze until solid around the outside and mushy in the middle
–  Stir with a fork and freeze until firm

Look for Arthur’s Smoothies  in your Chilled Produce section in grocery stores across Canada.