Posts tagged as:

cherry

Pink Cherry Frozen Yoghurt

June 15, 2010

Red Cherries

Cherries are in season! And I couldn’t be happier because this gives me a reason to bring my pitter out (see mom, I do use my stuff) and start making cherry desserts when I’m not chomping on them as a midnight snack.

I have been thinking of all sorts of cherry desserts – cherry granita, cherry crumb cake and of course the famous cherry dessert – clafoutis. To start off, I made myself a favourite: frozen yoghurt. It was pink (!) and smooth, and creamy, with gorgeous bumps of cherry pieces to bite into. I could only imagine how sweet it might smell with a little rosewater added to it.

Now when you’re pitting cherries, it’s important that you dunk them into a bowl with sugar, to coat the exposed layer of the cherry. Pitted cherries brown pretty fast, and though you can’t tell in cakes and pies, you can most certainly notice the brown tinge in a frozen yoghurt.

Pink Cherry Frozen Yoghurt

Pink Cherry Frozen Yoghurt

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb / 450g cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 lb / 450g thick yoghurt (I hung about 800g of yoghurt in a cheesecloth to give me 450g of yoghurt)
4 oz/ 11og caster sugar, or more depending on how sweet you’d like it
2 tsp vanilla extract ( almond is good too or rosewater)

Equipment: Ice cream maker

Method:

  1. In a bowl, mix the cherries, sugar and extract thoroughly and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
  2. In a large bowl, add the yoghurt and stir in the cherry mixture.
  3. Now proceed to churn the mixture in your ice cream maker, or follow these steps to make them if you don’t have an ice cream maker.
  4. Transfer to a wide container and let it firm up in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

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Peach And Cherry Jam Infused With Vanilla Bean

July 9, 2009

Peach and Cherry Jam
This has been a bountiful season of peaches and cherries; I’ve eaten boxes of cherries and a whole lot of peaches with honey but sadly, the season is coming to a close. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find good peaches. Every time I see the velvety fruit blushing away, I have got to buy it! So like a crazy girl I kept buying the fruit in such copious quantities, that I ended up with more of it in the refrigerator than I had space for. The wonderful idea of canning them dawned upon me.

Peaches and Cherries

I’ve never made jam before, so I read up a lot of resources before finally arriving at a recipe that would work for the fruits I had in mind. It turned out just like what I wanted – sweet and tangy at the same time, with gorgeous specs of vanilla and the sweetest fragrance any jam could ever have. This is testament to the fact that real vanilla beans can make everything better! I was a little worried when in some places I saw people use pectin to help set the jam, but the jam set perfectly without any of it.

I love this jam on toast with ricotta cheese but I’m already thinking of ways to use this in my baking!

Peach and Cherry Jam Infused with Vanilla

14 oz / 400g peaches
7 oz / 200g cherries
14 oz / 400g sugar (my fruits were very sweet) Use up to 600g of sugar.
1-2 cups hot water
Juice of 1 lime
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and the gorgeous caviar scraped out.

  1. Stone the cherries and cut into two.
  2. Dunk the peaches in hot water and then cold water to remove the skin. Cut into chunks.
  3. In a jar or a bowl add the fruits and sugar and toss to coat. Pour in 1 cup of hot water. Add the scraped out vanilla as well as the stick. Also squeeze out the lime juice. Let this sit overnight or until 24 hours.
  4. If you like a smooth texture now is when you can use the stick blender to give you a more consistent jam. I like mine chunky so skipped this step all together.
  5. The next day, transfer this to a large post and let it simmer, stirring frequently for 40-50 minutes or until the texture is a little more runny than what you’d like (because, as it cools it is going to thicken). Add up to 1 more cup of water whenever you feel that the preserve is rather chunky.
  6. Once cooked, let it cool. Transfer to sterlised jars to preserve.
Peach and Cherry Jam with Vanilla caviar

Excellent resource for canning and preserves: “How to make marmalades”

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