Summer smoothie recipe

Eloise Grainger offers a smoothie recipe to help stay refreshed this season

FORGET the typical tropical smoothie.

Ditch the complex, hard to find ingredients and go back to basics with your smoothie making. The classic summer berry smoothie is simple, yet flavourful, which is guaranteed to provide you with the satisfying taste, texture and cooldown that you desperately need on these hot summer days that we are having in Exeter.

Popular fruits that are needed for this smoothie are often ransacked on the store shelves, particularly strawberries, as everyone is desperate to nibble on sweet fruits on the beaches nearby. However, this smoothie is made with frozen fruits, meaning you can stock up on these summery essentials in your freezer without battling it out with the rest of the city-goers in the supermarket for fresh ones. It also adds to the cooling factor of the drink as its ice-cold ingredients are ideal for an ice-cold refresher!

What makes this classic smoothie so perfect is the deep purple and pink tones it creates; the truly eye-popping colours make it the quintessential summer beverage. The texture is thick and luscious. Almond butter takes all the credit for this, thickening out the liquid and giving it a nutty element. What’s more, is all these ingredients are plant-based! Rather than tanginess from a citrus or pineappleflavoured drink, this berry smoothie is sweet and delicate. All you need is 1 ripe banana , 70 grams of raspberries, 70 grams of strawberries, 70 grams of blueberries, 3 tablespoons coconut milk, and 1 teaspoon almond butter.

After peeling the banana, place it in a blender along with all the berries, coconut milk, and almond butter. Blend until the consistency is smooth and creamy. Take a big glass (or cleaned out jam jar, depending on your aesthetic appeal), and fill it up to the top with the thick berry smoothie. For that extra summery flare, why not slurp from a colourful straw?