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
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:
- In a bowl, mix the cherries, sugar and extract thoroughly and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
- In a large bowl, add the yoghurt and stir in the cherry mixture.
- 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.
- Transfer to a wide container and let it firm up in the freezer for a few hours before serving.