Banana Salted Caramel Milkshakes

If you’re anything like my little family you’ll currently be mainlining anything cold you can get your hands on. Ice cubes? Yep. Yoghurts? You’ll find ’em in the freezer. Lollies? I’ll take six. Ice cream? GIMME!

It’s literally too hot to think straight and anything giving us a little respite from summer-induced glue-brain is more than welcome, and if it tastes good too then all the better. Which is how, in the last week of school when we were all going mad with heat-related stir-craziness, we came upon a new cool obsession: milkshakes.

I haven’t really drunk milkshakes since my early twenties which I spent working as a Recruitment Consultant in Nottingham City Centre. During my tenure one of those cafes selling only milkshakes opened and I got inexplicably obsessed with buying the variant that incorporated Golden Syrup sponge. Take six months of eating/drinking one of these at least thrice a week and I would challenge anyone to be able to look a milkshake in the face for a good long while.

Ten years later and the heatwave is such that I will happily take ice in any and all forms: including milkshakes, re-invented for the more sophisticated thirty-something palate. And with two shake-obsessed kids I decided it’s about time I start to learn how to make these at home!

Working with Breville and their new Blend Active ColourMix Family Blender (a really well-powered blender that can chomp through ice with ease!) on the Great Milkshake Project 2018, I got cracking on some future classic milkshake tastes.

I’ve long been a fan of juices and sauces in my cooking, but this is the first time I’ve used a ‘personal’ blender in my creations. It is fantastic: coming with four dishwasher-safe bottles with mixed colour caps (so each family member can have their own – I like the green!), the blender has a powerful 300-watt motor that makes light work of any ingredients. The whole family can drink directly from the bottle (probably not at the same time ;) which greatly cuts down on any washing up, and the super seal sports cap was brilliant for the days I’d make a green juice and take it off to work or the gym. An absolute breeze to clean, the Blend Active ColourMix Family Blender is perfect for mess-free family nutrition at home and on-the-go.

But forget the healthy stuff for now, this is all about the yummy milkshakes!

We tried a couple of flavour combinations but our absolute winning favourite has to be the Banana Salted Caramel (closely followed by Vanilla and Nutella). Not too sweet and with the added fruit to make you feel like you’re being a *little* bit healthy, this has become a post-school snack staple.

When it comes to ingredients, this recipe is so simple that it really pays to get the best quality possible. Salted Caramel ice cream alone is the absolute bomb, but as an additional caramel kick I lined my milkshake glass with Caramel sauce. I have used semi-skimmed milk so the final milkshake isn’t insanely rich, but go with what you know you enjoy here.

Add a dessertspoon of peanut butter if you fancy an extra layer of flavour – it’s delicious!

I probably won’t be stepping back into the murky waters of Syrup Sponge milkshakes, but I’d love to hear your favourite flavours…

Thanks to Breville for commissioning this recipe – we used their fantastic new Blend Active ColourMix Family Blender.