Why Yes, I Am on a Popsicle Kick

This is one of those “so simple it hardly counts as a recipe” recipes, but it lets me use my popsicle mold again, so I’m writing about it anyway.

Find some nectarines. Or peaches, which are really exactly the same thing, except that nectarines have the fuzz allele set in the “off” position. Did you know that? I had always thought, or been told, or somehow else believed that a nectarine was a cross between a peach and a plum. I am kind of gullible when it comes to origin myths of produce, though (cf. urban legends about broccoli). So maybe this is common knowledge.

End tangent.

Actually, you can use just about any fruit you like, but it’s got to be utterly, gorgeously, drippingly ripe. (If it’s not, then there is an extra step in which you cook the fruit with the lemon and honey, but that dirties a pot and takes time, and it’s just much easier and better to start with properly ripe fruit, yes?)

If it is something like a peach or a nectarine, you will probably want to peel it. If it is something like a blackberry, not so much.

Either way, chop it up, and add it to some plain yogurt. Whole milk yogurt would be great; low-fat is also great. Non-fat yogurt is generally not something you find in my refrigerator (unless it’s Greek or Icelandic, which isn’t really what you want here) but I’m sure if you’re the kind of person who likes non-fat yogurt, then it will serve just fine in this preparation.

Squeeze in a little lemon juice, drizzle in a few tablespoons of honey, and add a pinch of salt (everything needs a pinch of salt). Taste to make sure you’ve got the right sweet/tart ratio, and pour into your popsicle molds.

You know what also works here? Those tall shooters that are sold as vodka glasses. Also, smallish paper or plastic cups. You just need popsicle sticks, then. Or whatever is lying around. (The 4th popsicle stick here comes from a novelty ice cube tray, because the last one that came with this kit was still in use.)

Next popsicle project: kulfis, which are a traditional Indian dessert, flavored with cardamom, saffron, and pistachios. (Thanks, P., for the idea!)

Nectarine Popsicles
Makes more than 4

1 c plain yogurt
1 c diced nectarines (or, you know, whatever)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2-4 Tbsp honey, depending on your taste and the sweetness of the fruit
a pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Check for sweetness. Pour into your popsicle molds and freeze. If you are using cups and popsicle sticks, freezer for a half an hour, then put the popsicle sticks into the cups and put back in the freezer until they’re solid.

New Toys

I have been coming across recipes for homemade ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet for months now as I’ve been perusing other people’s blogs, and every time I do, I think “Damn, too bad I don’t have an ice cream maker, because that sounds delicious.” So instead I just go to 40 Carrots at Bloomingdale’s and spend way too much money on their preposterously good plain frozen yogurt (usually with honey and blackberries).

I adore yogurt. And I don’t mean low-cal low-fat concoctions that are called yogurt and meant to sort of vaguely resemble soft-serve ice cream. I mean plain, tart yogurt, in any form possible. My favorite flavor of helado when I studied abroad in Spain was yogurt–yes, that’s right, yogurt-flavored ice cream.

So when I used part of my birthday gift card to Williams-Sonoma (thanks, Dad!) on this Cuisinart ice cream maker, the first thing I made was honey lavender frozen yogurt. I was sort of looking at this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, said to rival Pinkberry’s (I’ve eaten there a few times, too…), but since the “recipe” basically consists of Greek yogurt + sweetener, I figured I could wing it.

So here we have 3 cups of Greek yogurt, maybe half a cup of wildflower honey, and a teaspoon or so of minced lavender.

Mix them all up in a bowl, turn the machine on, and pour it in while it’s running.

Watch it go!

Give it 20+ minutes (I think it needed less time because I only put in 3 cups–this machine holds up to 6, if I recall) and then give it a taste and see where you are.

And we are in a very nice place indeed.

My first lesson of frozen yogurt is that low-fat yogurt will freeze pretty damn solid, even after it’s been churned for half an hour. (I used a combination of 2% and 0% Fage, so there’s nearly no milk fats in it at all.) Scooping out a serving immediately after making it was no problem, but when I went back in the next night for my dessert, it was a different story. Good flavor, but impossible to scoop, and the texture was a little off. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to keep trying…