Banana Cajeta Cashew Gelato

From the kitchen of Carly

Silky banana gelato swirled with dulce de leche and studded with frozen roasted cashews. The caramel ribbon catches on every spoonful, while lemon brightens the fruit and salt from the nuts cuts through richness. Simple, elegant, dangerously easy to finish.

Banana Cajeta Cashew Gelato

Banana melts into velvet here, cushioned by frozen cashew shards and ribbons of cajeta that swirl through without overdoing it. The trick is chilling your bananas and adding the nuts late, so they keep their texture and don't get beaten into paste. Lemon juice wakes up the sweetness and makes the whole thing taste brighter than you'd expect.

Prep
n/a
Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 1Plain Base
  • 2ripe bananas, chilled
  • 1 tbspsugar
  • 1/2 tbspfresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cupcoarsely chopped roasted salted cashews, frozen
  • 1/2 cupcajeta
  • 1slightly warmed

Instructions

  1. Prepare the Plain Base and chill it as directed.

  2. Combine the bananas, sugar, and lemon juice in a blender with half of the chilled base. Blitz until completely smooth, then pour into the remaining base and whisk to bring it together. Transfer the mixture to your ice cream machine and churn following the manufacturer's instructions, tossing in the frozen cashews 5 minutes before churning is done.

  3. Right after the gelato finishes churning, drizzle the cajeta over the surface and run a spoon or butter knife through it in a quick zigzag to create a light swirl.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Frozen cashews matter more than you think; room temperature ones will blend into the gelato rather than staying crunchy. Toss them in the freezer at least an hour before.
  • Drizzle the cajeta quickly after churning while the gelato is still soft enough to swirl without total resistance, but not so warm it melts everything.
  • If your bananas aren't very ripe, the flavor will be flat. They should have brown spots and smell sweet before you chill them.

Variations

  • Swap cashews for toasted pecans or hazelnuts for a different nuttiness and crunch.
  • Use dulce de leche instead of cajeta if that's what you have on hand, it'll give you the same caramel effect.
  • Skip the cajeta swirl and fold it in gently before churning for an all-over caramel note instead of ribbons.

Make ahead and storage

Keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a week; refreeze any melted portions by running them through the ice cream machine again if texture matters to you. This won't freeze rock-solid like store-bought gelato, so eat it within a few days for best creaminess.