After the complete decadence of my recent Snickers Cheesecake Bars, I think we all need something a little bit more healthy on our tables. And healthy doesn’t have to mean bland or tasteless, as you’re about to discover thanks to my brand new (and very colourful) Peach Raspberry Smoothie Bowl.
Uh, Smoothie What?
If you’re new to the world of smoothie bowls, the clue’s almost in the name. You can’t just go straight ahead and pour a regular smoothie recipe into a bowl though, as a true smoothie bowl is thicker than a regular drinking smoothie. Think of it more as a hybrid between soft-serve ice cream and a sorbet. There’s much less liquid in a smoothie bowl than a regular smoothie, and to keep things extra thick you are going to be using frozen fruit. So this does mean that you need to get your head in the game and pre-freeze some skinned and chopped peaches. To make things super easy, measure out the 120g (1 cup) of peaches you’ll need into separate plastic sandwich bags ahead of time, and then you can whip them out whenever you want to get your smoothie bowl on.
You’ll also need frozen raspberries for the red half, but I find that these are much much easier to get hold of in the frozen aisle of the supermarkets (and much cheaper than fresh raspberries too). I tend to keep a constant supply of frozen raspberries (and other berries) in the freezer, just in case I get the urge to make a smoothie, or a cherry pie.
This isn’t my first attempt at a smoothie bowl either – check out my Cherry Bakewell Smoothie Bowl for something a little more dessert-esque.
Side note: I’m absolutely loving my new Anthropologie white swirl bowls and glass side plates (the latter of which are in the sale by the way – so get them now!). Anthropologie is a bit of an issue for me, as they have such gorgeous home-ware, but at ridiculous prices. But I do find that their bowls and plates are actually a bit more reasonably priced than some of their other items. £150 for a cheese board? Hell no. And when I know there’s a sale on, I just can’t help myself.
A Smoothie Bowl of Two Halves
But back to the matter at hand. As soon as I had the idea for a Peach Raspberry Smoothie Bowl, I knew it was going to need to be a two-toned affair. I played with the idea of a ying-yang pattern for a while, as well as trying to make it striped. But in the end I went for the straight forward half-and-half approach. And I hope you’ll agree that it turned out perfectly ?
To keep the two smoothies from running into each other whilst assembling the bowl, I decided to make a little dam out of foil. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it sure helps keep the right smoothie on the right side. Although the smoothie is pretty thick, there’s no way on Earth that they would each stay on their respective sides of the bowl without a little helping hand. Make sure to alternate between a spoonful of the peach and then a spoonful of the raspberry, as otherwise that flimsy foil damn is not going to work.
Of course, you can also just skip the barrier altogether and pile alternate heaped spoons of the different smoothies into the bowl haphazardly, and go for a marble effect. Imagine you’re making a marble cake. When you’ve piled it all in the bowl, swirl through with a cocktail stick and it will look just as beautiful.
Mad about the Melba
When it comes to flavour combos, everyone has their favourites. I’ve made no secret of my love for chocolate and cherry for example! However, when it comes to summer, nothing quite works as well as peach and raspberry. I was always the kid who grabbed the Peach Melba yogurt first from the multi pack, and I’m starting to think it’s a travesty that I don’t have an actual Peach Melba dessert recipe on this blog…. I’ll get that remedied ASAP.
If you’re a long-time reader (yes Katie, I’m taking to you) then you might just remember the Peach Raspberry Ice Pops I made a couple of summers ago. They’re consistently a hit on Pinterest, and rightly so. I love looking at my old recipes, not least because it’s great to see how my photography and styling skills have come on since then. There nowhere near perfect still, but I’m so much more happy with how my photos turn out nowadays. The only way is up!
I’m really hoping that today’s recipe is the start of me getting back into the blogging zone. I attempted a rainbow bundt cake yesterday, but it just didn’t have the wow-factor needed for What Charlotte Baked. Katie seemed to enjoy it though – the perfect cake to enjoy whilst binge watching the new season of Queer Eye, yes? Although I’m trying to be good and spread it out a little – we’ve just watched episode 5 (with Skylar) so there’s only three left to go. Sad times.
And if this Peach Raspberry Smoothie Bowl has inspired you to get in the kitchen and through something gorgeous together for breakfast (or brunch) then be sure to have a looksy at my 30 Perfect Weekend Breakfast Recipes post from last summer. I’ve got you covered with everything from waffles and pancakes, through to a full English and even a breakfast cocktail or two. Because if you can’t have a Blood Orange Mule for brunch on a Sunday, when can you?
- 120g (1 cup) frozen raspberries
- ½ frozen banana (chopped)
- 120-180ml (½ to ¾ cup) milk - whole, skimmed, almond, whatever you like!
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120g (1 cup) frozen peaches (chopped & skinned)
- Handful of toppings of your choice (I used shredded coconut, granola, and sliced almonds)
- Place the frozen raspberries, ¼ of a chopped frozen banana, 60ml (¼ cup) of milk, ½ tablespoon of honey, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract into your blender (or a bowl if using an immersion stick blender). Blitz together until smooth. If needed, add a little bit more milk until the smoothie is thick but smooth consistency (think soft-whip ice cream). Pour the raspberry smoothie into a bowl and pop in to the fridge whilst you make the peach smoothie.
- Wash out the jug of the blender, and add the frozen peaches, ¼ of a chopped frozen banana, 60ml (¼ cup) of milk, ½ tablespoon of honey, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend together as before, adding a little extra milk if needed.
- If you want your smoothie bowl to have a nice defined split between the peach and the raspberry halves, I found that making a dam out of foil and putting it in the middle of the bowl before adding the smoothies works well. Add a tablespoon at a time to each side, filling all the way up. Gently remove the foil dam and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Alternatively, you can just spoon heaped tablespoons of the smoothies into the bowl to create a marble effect.
- Add any toppings you want to the bowl (I chose shredded coconut, sliced almonds, and granola, but fresh fruit, seeds, honey, and white chocolate chips would also work well). Eat the smoothie bowl as soon as you've made it, otherwise it will melt and become a literal smoothie in a bowl.
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