Monday, April 13, 2009

Strawberry Swirl Frozen Yogurt

Don't children say the most adorable things sometimes?

Most days, when I click pictures for the blog, my daughter will (touchwood) leave me alone. Like everyone else, I think she is bemused at the entire process of taking food pictures - bending at varying angles, moving the food from one room to the other, transferring it to numerous bowls - you all know the drill better than me, I am sure. But very often, a food photo session turns into a photo session with her!

I took these pictures on Sunday afternoon and for once, she would scarcely let me take the pictures. She wanted to take the pictures herself, or strike some pose for the camera, and though she does not care too much for "pink" ice cream, she still wanted to dig in!

Inspite of the air conditioner running at full blast, the frozen yogurt was fast melting. And so, I pleaded with her to bear with me. "Mama is not getting a good picture", I explained.

"Say cheese, pink ice cream. Say cheeeeese!" she quipped in response.



Strawberry Swirl Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

Low Fat Yogurt - 2 lts
Low Fat Sour Cream - 250 ml
Low Fat Fresh Cream - 100 ml
Strawberry puree - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup (more or less, depending on the tartness of the berries)
Juice of half a lime
Salt - a pinch
Gelatin - 1 1/2 tsp
Water - 3 tbsp

Method:

Strain the whey from the yogurt by hanging it in a muslin cloth. At the end of 6 hours (when I ran out of patience), I had 720 gms of strained yogurt.

Puree the strawberries (unfortunately, I didnt measure the berries in gms). Strain the puree, if desired - I didn't. Add the lime juice and sugar to the puree, cook to a simmer and then cool for about an hour.

Beat the hung yogurt, sour cream and fresh cream together till you get soft peaks.

Mix the water and gelatin together and let it stand for about 5 minutes; then, melt the gelatin by stirring it over a bowl of hot water. Cool it to room temperature.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the strawberry sauce and add the rest to the yogurt. Slowly, stir in the gelatin, add a pinch of salt and blend everything together thoroughly.

Freeze.....

Lucky you if you have an ice cream maker - just follow the manufacturer's instructions.

If you don't, there's some work involved - every time the yogurt is nearly set, whiz it in the mixie. And mash it with the back of a spoon every two hours.

I know how difficult it is to not just sit and eat it up - I had Terradaze ask me so many times if we could (at last) eat it! However, I wanted the consistency to be just right - soft and creamy- and so, I processed it 6 times before I was happy with the consistency.


To get the swirl pattern, when the yogurt is half frozen, add the reserved strawberry sauce to it in three additions and gently stir in with a skewer after each addition to create a marbled effect - doesn't it look absolutely wonderful?




Let it set and without any further ado, serve as soon as it sets.

Notes:
This frozen yogurt is best eaten as soon as it sets. If not, then take it out of the freezer and let it soften for about 5 mins before serving.
And much as I hate to say this, full fat yogurt and cream with give better results and faster!

This is my entry for My Favourite Things - Frozen Desserts that I am guest hosting, a lovely event conceived by Bindiya.


Have you made you favourite FROZEN DESSERT yet? Yes? Send it over soon :)

28 comments:

  1. Slurp! Looks yum, Strawberries are my fave fruit. I made one for you too, coming on Wednesday! :)

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  2. Looks delicious..The swirl pattern is gorgeous!

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  3. Hi AD,
    love frozen yogurt...I too made it recently and it was an instant hit at my place :) it was so cute to read abt ur daughter :)
    the pics are damn gud! swirl pattern is worth the try...looks gorgeous!
    TC

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  4. the pink icecream sure is saying "cheese" in all its glory. Just delicious.

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  5. SO cute ur daugther !Swirl yoghurt looks amazing...

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  6. It looks soooo creamy and yummy! Very colourful! :)

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  7. very nice..i have posted the same..in my blog today..that i will send to the same event hosting by you :)

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  8. Taking cold items a pict is really tricky on hot days and too i imagine ur little one behind for the ice cream. I would have end up giving the bowl ! Looks delicous

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  9. Looking realy yummy...i m drooling over the pics :)

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  10. that looks yum! Your daughter's reaction is so cute and funny :D

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  11. love the swirls.really tempting

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  12. Yummy pink ..great click too !!

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  13. yogurt looks delicious Aqua. Lovely photos

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  14. Cool!Can't wait to make such frozen desserts,at least another month in this part of the world to warm up for enjoying such cooling delights.
    It was nice reading about your cutie pie:)

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  15. yummy dessert.. and that too low fat!! great

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  16. Exquisite ....Great looking ..Tempting

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  17. Swirl yogurt is a fabulous idea..I'm going to try it as soon as I find some strawberries. Or I'd try it with mangoes instead!

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  18. Mmm looks delish, love frozen yogurt that too with strawberry's , droolin :D

    First time here, love your blog name :)
    following you..

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  19. Asha, thanks! You know I wait for wedensdays to feast on your feasts!!

    Madhumati, both Priyas, ISG, Suparna- thank you so much!

    Lavanya, I love the colour of your frozen yogurt.

    Cham, she was given a bowl of choc ice cream, but she was more interested in the pink one!

    Pratibha, thanks for visiting, hope to see you regularly

    sowmya, vibaas - thanks :)

    Ann, Trupti - thanks, can't tell you how happy i feel when someone likes my pictures :)

    Yasmeen, can't wait to see your frozen desserts!

    Pavithra, mahimaa, notyet100 - thanks :)

    simran, i prefer mangoes to strawberries..am sure it would be awsome with mangoes

    sathya, thanks for visiting, hope to see you often :)

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  20. love the swirled pic and the frozen dessert looks decadent.

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  21. Your ice-cream looks delicious AD, & I dig the swirl too. How sweet your daughter sounds. I love fruit desserts & yours is wonderful!

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  22. Looking lovely...A bit time taking but worth doing it for that yummy result...Wish to have some AD........

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  23. Thanks for dropping by... I understand how hard it is to have a kid back home and make all these wonderful dishes, take pictures and post them... Wow Frozen Yogurt looks great... I did post something like this today but with no gelatin... Yup without an icecream maker its a painful deed but the end result is just so amazing... Nice pictures... Shall keep visiting you...

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  24. Oh I just couldn't resist commenting here....love the swirl icecream in my hub's fav fruit flavour.
    I have a question though...sour cream...what exactly is that (pardon my ignorance, but it tastes like sour yogurt), and can I substitute it with anything else?

    Thanks in advance, hugs
    Navita

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  25. This looks so creamy and delicious! I like how it has the perfect texture too. :)

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