Cherry Frozen Yogurt

So I've been on a bit of a frozen-yogurt and sorbet kick lately.

With temperatures at 109F, can you blame me? It's hard to think about eating anything that isn't cool and refreshing. And once I got started, there was no stopping me: I now have a couple of kinds of frozen yogurts and sorbets stocked up in the freezer and am constantly dreaming up new ways to whizz fruit with simple syrup. 

This recipe is actually a spin off from the strawberry frozen yogurt that I made some time back. I had on hand a box of cherries that turned out too sour for consumption and I figured I could not really go wrong if I used David Lebovitz's recipe with cherries instead of strawberries. 

The only thing I did differently was that I cooked the cherries with the sugar prior to adding them to the yogurt and also used far more sugar than the other recipe had asked for. I may have added a little too much sugar, but you can change that when you try this out for yourself - for you must: because this frozen yogurt was, in one word, awesome. 

Cherry Frozen Yogurt

slightly adapted from David Lebovitz's Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

450g cherries, pitted

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (I used somewhere between 3/4 -1 cup sugar and it was just a tiny bit too sweet for my taste)

1 cup low-fat yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice 

Add the cherries and sugar together in a small pan and cook over medium heat for approx. 10 mins. There's no need to add water because the sugar helps to release the cherry juices and helps soften them. 

Once the cherries are cooked, remove from heat and cool before adding to the yogurt and lemon juice in a blender. Whizz everything together until well-combined. There will be lots of un-blended cherry bits that you can either leave in (if you like the texture) or strain the yogurt mixture if  you'd prefer a smoother frozen yogurt. 

Cover and cool the yogurt mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour and then freeze according to the manufacturers' instructions on your ice cream maker. 

If like me, you don't have an ice cream maker , cover and freeze for 1 hour. Remove from freezer and either use a fork to break up the frozen edges and mix everything up. Or whisk again (I used a hand blender this time to blend everything up and felt I had a creamier texture this way). 

Repeat this process 2 more times and then finally freeze for 4-5 hours before digging right in. 

Cinnamon Danish Toast with Yogurt Cheese

Yogurt is one of my favorite foods. I can eat it for breakfast or as a snack at any time during the day.

Some time back I came across a book called 101 Things to do with Yogurt. I had to buy it knowing what a versatile food yogurt is and was eager to learn how to use it as a base for or as a healthy substitute in recipes. 

It was hard to decide what to make first out of the book; Cinnamon Danish Toast sounded like a good start. It required me to make Yogurt Cheese to begin with and so I made a small batch over the weekend. And I made the Cinnamon Danish Toast for breakfast this morning. 

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

David Lebovitz's Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Summer is almost around the corner.

And that should be excuse enough to start making ice cream. 

The one thing I don't own is an ice cream maker (not for long) even though I am quite a bit of a kitchen appliance/gadget junkie.

I compulsively and impulsively buy things for my kitchen the way other people buy clothes or shoes.

I'm hopeless, really. 

The lack of an appliance doesn't stop me from making ice cream. Sure: making it without one is more labor intensive and a serious time commitment but worth each minute of effort & all the hours spent whisking, freezing, whisking, freezing and waiting . . 

I have several pounds of strawberries to get through and have been on the lookout for simple strawberry recipes that involve ingredients I already have on hand so that there is no mad rush to the grocery store. 

Today is a lazy day, so anything I made today couldn't possibly require me to do anything but spend most of my time with the hubby & kids all morning.

I finally found just what I was looking for.