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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