Perfectly decadent summer treat
Many of you regular readers may have noticed the nifty badges to the right. That’s right, Vampire Gran is now a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher. Yay! That said, I am joining with other Foodbuzz publishers in helping to raise money for OCRF, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Foodbuzz has teamed with Electrolux and actress Kelly Ripa to raise money for OCRF. For more information about this important cause, please go to Kelly Confidential,
Foodbuzz has a little something they like to call Top 9 Takeover. They ask all of us Featured Publishers to construct a post around a theme, then for one day only, all Top 9 posts reflect that theme. Sounds pretty straight forward.
How am I contributing to OCRF, you may wonder? Well, here’s something pretty cool. For every Banana Split posted by a Featured Publisher created by July 16th, Foodbuzz will contribute $50.00 to OCRF. So, by tempting you all with my wicked goodness, I am helping ovarian cancer research. My ovaries would probably thank me, if I had any!
I opted for using zero fat sorbet instead of traditional ice cream
Katie and I have been eating so healthy these days that the thought of a traditional Banana Split kinda gave me nightmares. Since I am a total newbie to Foodbuzz and I really, really wanted to participate in this challenge, I decided to make my entry a more healthy version of the soda fountain staple. My banana split is a Tropical Treat. Tropical, Raspberry and Mango sorbets with layers of banana and a fresh pineapple, mango, peach salsa. I topped it off with a not-so-healthy swirl of coconut whipped cream, toasted almonds and a beautiful Bing cherry!
The only thing with fat in it, Coconut Whipped Cream. Oh, yeah!
Here’s how I made the fruit salsa:
Start with a sweet, fresh pineapple
I actually had the produce guy at Safeway cut a couple pineapples to try before I purchased one. A lot of people don’t know that you can do this, ya know. Trust me, I work in a grocery store. They would rather have you try before you buy so they have a happy customer.
Chop the pineapple up as fine or as chunky as you like
The produce man picked out a great mango for me.
Perfectly sweet and juicy mango. Yum!
Remove the pit and peel and start chopping.
Chop the same as the pineapple
I also bought a decent peach. I really love summer fruit.
summertime = peaches
Combine the fruit and chill
I added a little honey to make it a wee bit more saucy and a pinch sweeter.
Slice a banana and whip some cream
After you whip and sweeten your heavy cream, fold in a couple handfulls of sweetened, shredded coconut. I used a large pastry tip to pipe my cream on top of my banana split, but you could also use a spoon.
You will not miss the ice cream or sugary sauces, trust me
I put a few slices of banana in first because I want that last bite to contain banana. Next I added a scoop of tropical sorbet. Top with fruit salsa and a few more banana slices. Scoop of raspberry sorbet, more salsa and banana. Mango sorbet, salsa and banana. Top with coconut whipped cream, toasted almond slices and a cherry on top. Viola! A banana split that won’t split your pants.
I can't help it, I just want you to keep looking at it
Vampire Gran's Kitchen 
You are astounding, darling!
I recall that back in December when we first discussed recreating our household meal planning paradigm to include more healthy choices you were so concerned that healthy equals boring and that no one would want to read your blog anymore. But I knew… I knew that you would totally rise to the challenge and create meals and desserts every bit as spectacular as the cheesy, buttery, fatty dishes of old. You’ve really out done yourself with this dessert!
I particularly love the coconut whip cream. Yum, Yum, YUM! Beautiful presentation, amazingly fragrant, and delicious beyond all expectation. This treat looks like summer, it smells like summer… but it tastes like Fourth of July, New Years Eve, and Mardi Gras all rolled into one great big party in my mouth!
I am so blessed to be your test audience… it’s true… I get my share of everything that comes out of Vampire Gran’s kitchen. Rules to be me!
Thank you for another spectacular culinary treat, Ma’am.
Katie
OMG! It’s totally Mardi Gras, isn’t it? And summer! And a party in the mouth! What a perfect dessert. And vegan, too, if you leave off the whipped cream (but that was the best, eh?) I am so happy to have you as an honest guinea pig for my culinary muses. More to come, I promise.
in the philippines, we have something similar. it’s called halo-halo (translation: mix up). basically it’s a buncha tropical fruit, served in evaporated milk & shaved ice… and sometimes topped with ice cream & FLAN!!! yum!
OMG, Boogie, your halo-halo sounds terrific! Thank you so much for checking in and leaving a comment. And for telling me about a new treat I need to try!
Vampire Gran
Patricia…with a dessert as decadent as this…you know what you’ll be making for me if ever I come visiting ;o))
What a wonderful creation…full of goodies.
I also want to thank you for paying attention to such a great cause.
My Mommy for now has survived a terrible cancer of the ovaries and many more attached complications. I’m happy to report that she’s now doing very nicely.
Here in Montreal, we are very involved and hopefully one day this horrible woman cancer can disappear.
It was nice to visit you once again and I wish you a great weekend,
Claudia
Oh, Claudia, it was sooooo good! So fresh and summery. Thank you for your always welcome comments. Sorry to hear about your mother’s illness; I am so glad she is doing well now. I look forward to the day that we can meet in person. There will be a lot of food involved, no doubt!
Take care, my foodie friend!
Patty
gosh…that is so so pretty!!
And so de-LISH-ious! Thank’s for checking in!
Welcome to FoodBuzz, and thank you for your comment on my blog. 🙂 Your split really looks like something I’d want to have!
Well, thank you for coming to check out my split. It was a fun challenge, don’t you think? Wonder what they’ll have us doing next!
What a good looking dessert! Congratulations, Patty, on your continuing rise to fame & fortune. We’ll be seeing you on TV soon – with your own show. I know it!
Love you, and love Katie! Oh, and LOVE LOVE LOVE desserts made with whipped cream. (smile)
Who doesn’t love whipped cream? Thanks for checking in, Megan. I’m glad I had something sweet and whipped creamy to share with you today. TV show, I don’t know about that. Maybe some goofy reality show.
Take care! and be careful on that riding lawnmower *wink*
now you really outdid yourself with this split..wow..all that great fruit….yeah its fruit, its good for me….I’ll take two!!
Man, Chef D, Katie and I tried to eat this whole thing and just couldn’t do it. And we were sharing one! If you can down two, then you are a bigger man than me. Oh, wait, I think you are – LOL! Thanks for checking in on my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. Have a super sweet day!
oooooooooo thank you!!
that looks yummy!
AND, I will add the coconut whipped cream topping to my list of organic cake toppers! Thanks.
WELCOME TO FOODBUZZ!!!! So glad there’s another reason you will be inspired to cook and to blog! This split looks bananas!! 🙂
Hey Christine! Where have you been? Thanks for welcoming me to FOODBUZZ! I’m pretty happy about being one of the cool kids, like you. Glad you liked my split. I’m going over to your blog right now to see if you have a new posting.