Sometimes you just have to treat yourself, don't you?
Yesterday I treated myself to a very sexy ice cream maker; it's sleek, shiny and best of all...self-freezing! I've been lusting after one of these beauties for at least ten years, waiting patiently (and then not-so patiently) for the somewhat astronomical price to fall so that I could feast upon ice-cream.
My luck changed on Saturday when I visited the Nisbets stand at the Foodies Festival in town. (I had absolutely no idea that Nisbets was open to the public--I'd always thought it was trade-only--so that was a nice surprise.) I flicked through their catalogue and spotted the Buffalo ice cream maker at a rather nice price, and the folks running the stand mentioned that it was actually on special offer at the moment. Well. My heart went pitter-patter. I got even more excited when I discovered a 10% off voucher tucked into my catalogue!
One quick trip to the Nisbets shop in Avonmouth and my dreams finally came true. I wonder how many people can say that their dreams have come true in Avonmouth of all places?
I was delighted to discover that the Buffalo had an incredibly simple design. Just put the bowl and paddle in the machine--there isn't a wrong way to do this, bonus!--pour in well-chilled ingredients and put the lid on. Then all you have to do is set the timer and watch the temperature plummet. The Buffalo went from 24C to -24C in less than five minutes and was pretty quiet when churning, too.
I put it to the test with a 'kitchen sink' sort of frozen yoghurt. There were some blackcurrants leftover from a trip to a PYO farm last week, half a punnet of blueberries and some cherries in the freezer. My eyes lit on a tub of Greek yoghurt at the back of the fridge and that was that...Summer Fruits frozen yoghurt was born.
The first thing Lucas said to me when I picked him up from school was, "Did you make ice cream, Mummy?" He was thrilled when I told him that I did! Unfortunately I tested his patience while I fussed over my photo set-up and took a million photos before finally fixing him a cone.
He was happy. My poor deprived child...fancy having to wait a whole five minutes for frozen yoghurt?!
So far I'm really pleased with my shiny new ice cream machine. The texture of the frozen yoghurt was silky smooth and the yoghurt was firm enough to scoop when I took it out of the machine, so if you had some sort of ice cream emergency you could have a bowl of freshly-churned ice cream ready in just over half an hour. How awesome is that?
Next up is salted caramel ice cream (followed by some vigorous exercise). I can't wait!!
Summer Fruits Frozen Yoghurt
400g mixed summer fruit (I used about 200g blackcurrants and roughly equal amounts of blueberries and cherries)
60g caster sugar
400g full-fat Greek yoghurt
125g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt
Place the fruit in a large saucepan and add the caster sugar. Place on a medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes until the fruit softens and collapses. Don't put a lid on--it will boil over and then you'll have to scrub and scrub and scrub. Ask me how I know.) Allow to cool before rubbing through a fine-mesh sieve. Make sure to press through all the liquid--you should be left with a small spoonful of skin and seeds once you're done. Put the fruit puree in the fridge and allow to chill completely.
When you're ready to make the frozen yoghurt, mix the caster sugar and salt with the Greek yoghurt. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes (to allow the sugar to dissolve) then mix again.
Beat in the vanilla bean paste and approximately half of the fruit puree. Taste and add more purée if needed--you want a strong flavour that is just too sweet.
Churn in an ice cream maker, following manufacturers instructions. Once churned, spoon into a freezer-proof container, alternating the frozen yoghurt with drizzles of the remaining puree. Gently swirl the mixture together to create a ripple. Freeze for at least four hours to finish hardening.
Oh my goodness, can I please come and live at your house?! haha! It looks SO good! xo
ReplyDeleteSuch a treat!
ReplyDeleteForgetting to put the ice cream maker in the freezer and Australia's ridiculous summer temps are the limiting steps in my own ice cream production.
I love the simplicity and relatively health of this recipe too.
Oh that looks amazing, and yay for dreams being made in Avonmouth! I've only just started using my very low tech ice cream maker this summer after I started storing the bowl in the freezer so it's always frozen; I can't believe it took me so long to think of it!
ReplyDeleteI've wanted an ice cream maker for years, and having seen this I want one even more! x
ReplyDeleteThat does look rather delicious! And yep, definitely of all the places, Avonmouth is a bit random! :-) xx
ReplyDeleteIt was wondering if I could use this write-up on my other website, I will link it back to your website though.Great Thanks. frozen yogurt culver city
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