Cherry rippled vanilla frozen yogurt

Happy New Year everyone!

The cherry overload goes on in my house – not that I am complaining. ;)
I decided to make a frozen dessert to celebrate the arrival of summer and the slightly adapted cherry filling from those delicious bars was a perfect addition to the already great vanilla fro yo; since my husband doesn’t like frozen yogurt I’ll have to eat it all myself – oh, how big of a problem I have on my hands. ;)

Cherry rippled vanilla frozen yogurt
adapted from two great books: Rustic Fruit Desserts e The Perfect Scoop

Cherry ripple:
500g (18oz) cherries, pitted and halved if small or quartered if large
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Frozen yogurt:
2 ¼ cups (585g) plain whole-milk yogurt
2/3 cup (133g) granulated or caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the cherry ripple: combine the cherries, sugar, corn starch, salt, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil for 1 minute to thicken. Set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Frozen yogurt: mix the ingredients together in a medium bowl, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate for at least for 1 hour, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove it from the machine, layer it in an airtight container with spoonfuls of the chilled cherry mixture. Freeze.

Serves 8-10

Lemon ginger frozen yogurt and the beginning of fall

Fall has arrived and the days have been gray in Sao Paulo – the sun comes up for a while, but fat, heavy clouds seem much stronger and take over the sky.

I am not complaining for I love cold days, but this frozen yogurt certainly reminds me of the last days of summer – fresh, tangy, delicious.

Lemon ginger frozen yogurt
slightly adapted from the amazing Bon Appetit Desserts

¾ cup (180ml) water
¾ cup (150g) caster (superfine) sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 cup (260g) plain yogurt
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
¼ cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Bring the water, sugar, corn syrup and ginger into a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, strain into a medium bowl and chill until cool.
Whisk the yogurt, buttermilk, lemon juice and zest into the ginger syrup. Process mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 weeks.

Serves 6

Peach frozen yogurt

A bowl of beautiful, ripe peaches was the beginning of this recipe, but my first idea was making the peach ice cream from the same book this frozen yogurt came from; I changed my mind after considering that using yogurt instead of cream would allow me to eat more dessert – talk about fat thoughts. :)

Peach frozen yogurt
from The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments

675g (1 ½ oz) ripe peaches (about 5 large peaches)
½ cup (120ml) water
¾ cup (150g) caster (superfine) sugar*
1 cup (260g) plain whole-milk yogurt
a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Peel the peaches: cut an X at the bottom of each peach and lower them in a pot of boiling water for about 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to a colander and refresh with cold water – the peels will slip right off.
Slice the peaches in half, remove the pits and cut into chunks. Cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and cooked thought, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar, then chill in the refrigerator.
Purée the peach mixture in a food processor or blender with the yogurt until almost smooth but still slightly chunky. Mix in the lemon juice. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

* I suggest adding less sugar and taste – mine was a bit too sweet

Makes about 3 cups