“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
Mark Twain
Strawberry Basil Frozen Yogurt … a sure sign that spring is here, and summer hot on springs heels!! This turned out to be refreshing, bowl licking good, tangy sweet and minty. Quite guilt free as I made it with homemade low fat yogurt, spring doesn’t get better than this. Summer promises to be fun too!
A short while ago, Cookaroo posted a Strawberry Frzen Yogurt. It left me with pangs of want. WANT. NEED. NOW! I hadn’t made a batch for ages. It’s something I love to make, and usually have in the freezer through summer. Fortunately I had a beautiful batch of the sweetest strawberries chopped and frozen from our trip to the vineyards last month.
I’ve made a Strawberry Fro Yo before, and this time I wanted to add some basil as my plants are thriving. I love the minty appeal basil adds to the fro yo. Appears that strawberry and basil are a pairing meant to be! Do you feel the same?
This was fun from word go. A spoonful to check on the sweet quotient made me lick the bowl and spatula clean. It was that good. YUM!! Every thing’s addictive about this attractive frozen treat that tempts the eyes as much as it tempts the palette! Pretty hues of pink aren’t they?
I piped some into little goblets just because! You see the Thermomix is a sturdy kitchen companion that pulverises frozen fruit to give you instant frozen dessert! It’s like instant gratification. All summer long, the kids come back home from school to mango snow or peach fro yo every afternoon. I keep the fruit chopped and frozen and blitz it with ice cubes and sugar. Into huge bowls and the kids are ecstatic!
It was quite a strawberry kind of day that day. I had 2 more punnets of strawberries on hand. To save them for later, I gently simmered them in sugar, fresh basil, vanilla bean and aged balsamic vinegar for dessert another day. I had some thoughts on how to use it. Here’s a sneak peek of what I made since it turned out to be a chocolate kind of day too.
You see, the good folk from The Cocoa Trees sent me some of their premium dark chocolate to sample. With a fabulous line up of products, I was thrilled to see the variety they offer. I had to bake with some, so used a bar of Belgium Dark 72% in the cake above. Divine {if I may say so myself}! Will shall share the recipe of Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Fallen Cake soon …
Deep, satisfying, comforting and good quality, the selection they sent me is outstanding. I love dark chocolate so am feeling rather pampered at the moment! My stash is hidden, safe from prying eyes. The kids have inherited my love for bitter dark chocolate. It’s the same for strawberries, and coffee too!
Summary: A refreshing, bowl licking good, tangy sweet minty strawberry basil frozen yogurt that will leave you wanting for more. Guilt free, made with low fat yogurt, summer doesn’t get better than this! The recipe can be halved easily. Makes approx 1 ltr
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes plus chilling time Ingredients:
600gm strawberries {frozen}
Generous handful fresh basil
400gm hung low fat yogurt {hung for 1 day in the fridge, then chilled in freezer for an hour}
200gm vanilla sugar {adjust if required}
2 tbsp kirsch {or vodka}
Method:
This is a recipe that I make in my Thermomix. You can make it with the same proportions if you have an ice cream maker, or by hand as well. For the latter, chop fresh strawberries in a big bowl with the snipped basil leaves and the kirsch {or vodka} and chill with the yogurt in the freezer. This just helps the fro yo to set a little faster.
Place all ingredients in the bowl of your Thermomix and process on Speed 10 for 1 minute at a time, stirring with the TM spatula as required. Repeat 3-4 times until well blended. Adjust sugar if required and blend for another 30 seconds.
Transfer to a freezer safe container. Serve immediately or freeze until required.
If you want to pipe some in goblets, then do so when the fro yo is still a little soft. Place in a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle and pipe. Leave to set for an hour or so.
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
View all posts by Deeba @ PAB
I was just thinking of fro-yo today.. unfortunately I don’t have any strawberries around.. so I am thinking along the lines of something with mango!! but love love the pretty colour of your fro-yo!! Spring… its summer alrite out here!! :))
Wow this is such a beautiful looking dessert. And you seem to have done justice to it as usual Deeba. Love the colors and the fact that it is so easy to make.
Made these a week or so back..and Deeba this was just so so so delish!! And light!..and Guiltfree!! Yay…winner all the way… Thanks so much for the amazing recipe..I did it by hand though since I don’t have a Thermo mix yet..but looking at the gorgeous plethora of Fro yos you have, I so want to buy one Right now!! Be trying the cherry one soon… 🙂 XoXo
Loving the addition of basil in this and the photos are so gorgeous!
Delightful! That will make a perfect treat when the heat and sun come back…
Cheers,
Rosa
looks so tempting..since am not trying it anytime soon..how about sending me some 😛
Eye candy!
Strawberry & Basil make such a cute couple.
Love the way you piped the frozen yogurt into cognac glasses.
I was just thinking of fro-yo today.. unfortunately I don’t have any strawberries around.. so I am thinking along the lines of something with mango!! but love love the pretty colour of your fro-yo!! Spring… its summer alrite out here!! :))
Wow this is such a beautiful looking dessert. And you seem to have done justice to it as usual Deeba. Love the colors and the fact that it is so easy to make.
I wish somebody gave me a big bowl of this right now! I could live on just this as the summer heat is getting unbearable here in Bangalore!
Yummers. I love strawberry basil combination. So refreshing. I love how the flavours play out. Granita like this yummy
Yum! I made this combo ( strawberry-basil) a while back during my less lazy days but of coz yours look so much nicer! hurray for thermomix ease:-)
Such a simple recipe but makes yummy desserts.
Ahhhh finally something I can eat without much guilt! It looks sooo delicious and mouthwatering!
Made these a week or so back..and Deeba this was just so so so delish!! And light!..and Guiltfree!! Yay…winner all the way… Thanks so much for the amazing recipe..I did it by hand though since I don’t have a Thermo mix yet..but looking at the gorgeous plethora of Fro yos you have, I so want to buy one Right now!! Be trying the cherry one soon… 🙂 XoXo