Monday 23 May 2011

Granita e gelato di yogurt ai frutti di bosco (deliciously fragrant mixed berry sorbet and pink frozen yogurt ice-cream)


It's late Spring and everything is about to burst into flower,  in the garden. My beautiful roses are beginning to bloom and the little miniature strawberries which came to live on my rockery three years ago (they are so tiny and sweet!) are looking promising.


A beautiful rose, in my garden

I have edible cherries on my tree, which I hope the birds will let me pick and enjoy (like they did last year) and (will have) big strawberries. They say "There's nothing like a good English strawberry!" Well... I do know that Italian strawberries smell like nothing on Earth and are sun ripened and naturally BIG and beautiful!



They WILL be red! (my cherries)

Strawberries and my Italian parsley live together in "perfect harmony... side by side"
as Sir Paul would put it!

I like red soft fruit, especially cherries, which are plentiful, in Italy, this time of year. When you buy them, they usually came in twos or threes, on the same stem, with leaves as green as... green! The cherries on my tree, though do taste delicious! And I just hope the birdies don't get them before I do!
I wanted to make a fruit sorbet (granita ai frutti di bosco) and a frozen yogurt ice cream (gelato allo yogurt) and I did.  Next, I will make lemon sorbet, which my husband adores... he goes to a BAR opposite my sister's especially for that. I will master the art of sorbet making, so my lemon sorbet tastes better than CAFFE` ROMA.
Frozen mixed berry sorbet
(Granita ai frutti di bosco)
7-8 portions
Ingredients:
500g (1 lb  2 oz frozen or fresh mixed berries)
4 tbs sugar
a small cup of water
Put the water in a pan. When hot, add the sugar. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar melts 2-3 minutes. Add the fruit (can be frozen or fresh) and cook for a further 4 or so minutes. Next, puree the fruit in a mixer, then sieve, to remove all the pips.

My fruit looked like beautiful Murano glass... gorgeous!

When cool, pour into an ice cream maker, churn until thick and freeze. I just collected the puree into a container and placed it in the freezer. I kept stirring, in order to obtain a soft, ruby coloured granita. If you leave this in the freezer for too long, and do not stir, it will become hard.

 

This is what my sorbet (granita) looked like on its way to the freezer
Frozen Berry and yogurt ice cream
(Gelato di yogurt ai frutti di bosco)
7-8 portions
Ingredients:
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) plain yogurt
400 g frozen mixed Summer berries
4 tbs sugar
This is really easy! Place your frozen fruit in a blender or mixer. Mix in a blender, for just one minute, as you don't want a puree, if you can help it. Add sugar and yogurt, mix, churn and freeze. I just froze mine and it was good. Just make sure you stir ever so often, so your ice cream doesn't harden. Serve after about four hours or so.
My frozen yogurt ice-cream looks delicious!

I served my granita and gelato allo yogurt together, in an Italian Champagne glass, with a strawberry, a white chocolate leaf which I made and some delicious whipped cream. It was really really dolce e molto buono! You can be really creative when you serve this pudding.

My first strawberry! It's so cute!

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8 comments:

  1. That looks so beautiful Anna! I'm not that keen on sweet things but every summer I vow to make more home-made ice creams and sorbets and perhaps this year I will. We have tiny strawberries in my garden and I eat them every morning on my way to feed the hens...

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  2. That sounds lovely, Jane... hens are so beautiful and I love free range eggs! BTW: I am not too keen on sweet things, either, like cakes and pastry "stuff" but light puddings, such as this one, I don't mind, once or twice a year! Yogurt ice-cream is so good, Jane! Especially just plain yogurt.

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  3. Since reading about your cherries,I've also been thinking about cherries, one of my favourite fruit. I used to preserve them as the season is so short. Well, if I do... you'll see it in my blog!

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  4. Jane, I've been trying to post on your blog, but this "thing" won't let me!

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  5. Hello again Anna. I get so ratty with technology, it so often doesn't work with me! Just a quick note really, to say that I've made a tiny portion of raspberry yoghurt icecream. I'd bought some raspberries from the market that tasted wonderful tho' quite a lot were really squashed, so I followed your recipe and I've made a little container-ful,which is freezing nicely, for a special treat tomorrow. Thank you!

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  6. Do stir it, or it will go hard and leave it to rest for 15 minutes before serving.It's really fresh and delicious!Good with creme fraiche, which I love!

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  7. The Geese are VERY keen on sweets - beautiful pictures of fruits & fruity foods! And thanks for dropping by Goose Vintage blog!

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  8. Glad you like my "fruity" pictures. Will take and post photos of my beautiful cherries when they turn red and shiny. My tree is very big and beautiful, now!

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