“I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice-cream.”
Heywood Broun
Cherry Fro Yo … you could fall in love with the colour alone. My heart skipped a beat when I started whirring the thermomix. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Deep, red, bursting with flavour. It was love at first sight! At first bite too!!
Tis the season for frozen desserts. Mangoes have been around for a bit but they aren’t at their juiciest tastiest best yet. Next came plums, and hot on their heels cherries. Cherries are what win my heart over year after year.
I think they are the best fruit of all; immense possibilities. I’ve had a good run this season already. Other than popping loads into my mouth, I’ve done a crisp and loads of balsamic cherries. They’re a great way to top a dessert, a cheesecake or even a sundae. I topped a dark chocolate mousse with some. Heaven!!
I had about 1/3rd box leftover the other day. A fro yo was dancing in my head after I spoke to the sweet Cookaroo. She was having a field day down south making chikoo ice cream and mango sorbet to beat the heat. I had to make something frozen soon!
There was yogurt hanging in the fridge for a potato salad. That was enough to get me on the frozen yogurt trip. I’ve made a Fresh Cherry Fro Yo 2 years ago, a recipe that cooked the cherries down etc. I decided to go the raw way this time. Something newer, something fresher!
How much can you go wrong with fresh luscious juicy cherries, yogurt and sugar? Throw some kirsch in and you’ll be licking the bowl clean. Just what happened to me. This recipe is headed off to a monthly challenge called ‘Our Growing Edge‘ hosted at Bunny Eats Design, a beautiful blog penned by Genie.
Our Growing Edge is the part of us that is still learning and experimenting. It’s the part that you regularly grow and improve, be it from real passion or a conscious effort.
This monthly event aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to.
Genie is a graphic designer obsessed with food and bunnies and lives in New Zealand. Her initiative above aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to. This is one food experience I just had to share!
‘Heartachingly’, 300g of cherries made just a small quantity of frozen yogurt. It’s ironical that when you make a small teeny amount of anything, it comes out amazingly good! This must have been the best fro yo I’ve made. Best on all counts – colour, taste, depth of flavour, burst of fruit. YUM!!
I can see loads of this beautiful fro yo through summer. Maybe a cherry buttermilk sorbet too. Also loads of red splashes all over the kitchen, tiles and all, while pitting these juicy berries. Beware of the red drips, murderous red! Years of pitting have ensured I wear an apron. The black apron tells no tales! The tiles can be scrubbed clean!
You can make fro yo pops too. I’ve done a plum version of fro yo in an ‘eggless desserts’ feature I did for BBC Good Food this month. It’s the Plum Fro Yo {picture above} and is quite as delectable as the cherry fro yo. The collage below has the different desserts I created and shot for them. The magazine is on the shelves now. A digital version is available here.
[print_this]Recipe: Fresh Cherry Frozen Yogurt
Summary:Refreshing and addictive, this is a great summer dessert or ‘coolant’! Low on calories and high on taste, this cherry frozen yogurt will leave you asking for more … and more! Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutesIngredients:
300g hung yogurt {drained overnight}
300gms fresh cherries {pitted}
25g brown sugar
100g vanilla sugar {or more as required}
15ml kirsch
Method:
Thermomix
Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until hard, about 2 hours.
Freeze the yogurt as well, chopping up after about an hour.
Place all ingredients in bowl of TM, and process at Speed 7 going up to speed 10 for a minute.
Open scrape down sides, and repeat until you get a smooth blend.
Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Serve immediately else place in a freezer safe bowl and freeze.
Ice Cream Maker
Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until firm and chilled, about an hour or two.
Place all ingredients in bowl of processor and blend until smooth.
Transfer to ice cream maker and set according to manufacturer instructions.
“The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us….” Marcel Proust
Finally succumbed to temptation and bought a precious little box of fresh figs the other day. Have been looking at them longingly for a while, but there never was time for them as the past few weeks have been packed and BUSY! Googling brought me many matches, and since frangipane is something that I love using in dessert, this Honey Roasted Fig & Almond Tart proved its sublime worth! Figs must be the prettiest fruit. Rustic, with almost vintage appeal, fruit which take your breath away the moment you cut them. With the temperatures rising, it’s a matter of time before they disappear. It’s almost unnerving to have them in the fridge, these dainty beautiful fruit that threaten to expire before you know it! I’ve baked just a couple of times with fresh figs – once when I had lugged a precious few from Pune that ended up in a vanilla scented frangipane galette, and another time I experimented with figs in buckwheat tartlets. Memories of both linger in my mind each time I see fresh figs, yet the blog is hungry for variety. In my quest for more, I landed up at the BBC Good FoodsHoney Roasted Fig & Almond Tart!Of this tart they write, “Delicious, sweet and fruity pud, great served with cream or ice cream – make the case with bought pastry!” I made the case with a shortcrust pastry from scratch, off their site again, simple and quick. I made half the quantity of the frangipane filling in their recipe and it was just right! I also used a whole egg instead of 2 yolks; worked fine again!BBC GF has exciting recipes, almost always simple and uncomplicated, with ingredients that aren’t too outlandish or exotic. I love seeing their newsletter in my inbox, a constant source of inspiration and a desire to bid each passing season a fond farewell. It keeps me safe in the knowledge that fresh ideas of the new season are coming soon!Theres something about fresh figs, the colours when you cross section them, the depth of colours once they are roasted, the aromas, the pairing .. all pure JOY! Pairing them with almonds must be one of lifes little pleasures … so indulgent and ever so delicious! This tart bears testimony! And the colours? So worth making this tart, the deep red hues of figs moorish and eye catching! Honey roasting the figs for 12-15 minutes ensure that they have a slightly longer lease of life, especially when they are as precious as the few I had! I am endlessly envious of those folk who have a fig tree in their yard!The tart was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S! Combined together, butter, brown sugar, almonds and vanilla beans deliver something special. The crust was crisp and the tart came together beautifully. The honey roasted figs pleased the palette with the hint of orange zest; for once we didn’t need cream or creme fraiche or ice cream!It was so good at room temperature, the frangipane filling fabulous!
[print_this] Recipe: Honey Roasted Fig & Almond Tart
Summary: The tart was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.! Combined together, butter, brown sugar, almonds and vanilla beans deliver something special. The crust was crisp, and the tart came together beautifully. Honey roasted figs pleased the palette with the hint of orange zest. For once we didn’t need cream or creme fraiche or ice cream!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
170g shortcrust pastry {recipe follows}
5 rips figs
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp clear honey
100gm unsalted butter, soft
120gm whole almonds, ground with skin
100g demerera sugar
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a shallow loose-bottomed 8″/20cm flan tin. Chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the figs in half length ways and sit them cut side up on a roasting tray. Mix the orange zest and honey in a bowl, brush the figs pour over the figs and roast for 10-12 minutes until just soft.
Prick the base of the chilled pastry case all over with a fork, then line with greaseproof paper {or foil} and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 170C. Leave the pastry case to cool slightly before filling.
Cream butter and sugar in a food processor or with an electric beater until smooth and pale. Tip in the ground almonds and zest and whiz briefly to combine. Add the egg and scraped vanilla bean and whiz again until smooth. Spread evenly over the pastry case.
Gently press the figs cut side up into the almond mixture. Bake for 11⁄4 hours or until it’s golden all over {don’t worry if the centre still seems soft – a little gooeyness is good, and it’ll firm up a bit as it cools}. Leave in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove sides and transfer on its base to a wire rack to cool.
Take the tart off its base and transfer to a flat platter or board before serving.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Shortcrust pastry ingredients:
125g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp demeraera sugar
55g unsalted butter
2-3tbsp chilled water
Method:
Place all ingredients except water in food processor and process in short bursts until breadcrumb like mix.
Add chilled water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the mixture begins to come together.
Knead briefly so that the dough comes together. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for at least 20-20 minutes before using.
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While on this pie/tart topic, do stop by at Fun N Food Cafes Pie 101 for all things pie related.
Try current Target promo codes and save money on tart pans and more baking supplies.
