My Lychee Rose Fro-yo Recipe

Here’s another one of my frozen yogurt creations. So far this summer, Lychee Rose fro-yo has been my favorite. It’s sweet and floral. And the color is so pink and saturated. The color gives Lychee Rose a presence like it is in a Bollywood film. Like all frozen yogurt recipes, this one is super easy.

First prepare your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. For me this requires pre-freezing the bowl. That’s why I keep in the freezer at all times. Never know when I want to create a new flavor!

You’ll need:

32 oz. (about 4 cups) of plain nonfat yogurt I use Trader Joe’s French Village Non-Fat Yogurt because I like the price and the texture.

20 oz. can of whole lychees in syrup There are many brands available. I have used Aroy-D and a few others. I pick up whatever is at the Asian market I’m at.

about 3 fl. oz. of rose syrup I really should be more keen on measuring things out. I usually add as much as I want. I think 2.5-4 fl. oz is enough. I use Dabur Rose Syrup. It’s my “comfort” rose syrup, the one brand that has always been in the pantry. I can’t say that it is the best but it is affordable and it makes for wonderful beverages. It’s my “soul food” rose syrup.

Because lychee syrup is so sweet and Dabur rose syrup is pre-sweetened, I do not add sugar. You could add about 1/4 cup to the mixture if you want a super sweet frozen yogurt.

In a blender dump the can of lychees and their syrup. Add the rose syrup. Blend the mixture until it is completely smooth, no chunks. If the lychees are still chunky, they’ll add an unpleasant texture to your frozen yogurt. Breathe in that aroma of this mixture. It’s a beautiful smell.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt and lychee/rose liquid. Mix with a whisk. If you would like a sweeter mixture, now is the time to add the sugar. Mix until all ingredients are blended and (if you choose) the sugar is dissolved.

Put the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. I have to leave my mixture churning in the machine for up to 2 hours. The machine is deafening and I can seriously hear it when I stand at the street.

Spoon the yogurt mixture into a container. I usually use the yogurt container and Ball Plastic Freezer Jars (with the green lid). Freeze until mixture is firm about 2+ hours.

Before serving, let fro-yo soften so that it is easy to scoop. I find that this mixture needs a longer time to soften about 30 minutes before scooping. The mixture will be a bright pink. The more rose syrup the pinker it is. You could garnish this with a few lychees on a toothpick, like you would a lychee martini. I did not do this because I find lychees unattractive and a bit grotesque in appearance. And you could always garnish with culinary roses. This would be very beautiful and supper feminine. I really think that if this lychee rose fro-yo was garnished with roses that it would be the cutest thing to serve at a bridal shower or OTT girly girl birthday party.

-Victoria

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My Asian Melon & Cucumber Fro-Yo Recipe

One of my favorite things to do is to create frozen yogurt flavors and various other frozen treats. Here is my recipe for a super refreshing Asian Melon & Cucumber Frozen Yogurt. This one is perfect for summer because it is well, frozen, and it isn’t too sweet. I am a fan of tart fro-yo and this is a very refreshing take on tart.

First prepare your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. For me this requires pre-freezing the bowl. That’s why I keep in the freezer at all times. Never know when I want to create a new flavor!

You’ll need:

32 oz. (about 4 cups) of plain nonfat yogurt. I use Trader Joe’s French Village Non-Fat Yogurt because I like the price and the texture.

1 small Santa Claus melon. This was so hard for me. I purchased a small Nerf football sized melon at a Korean grocery. The melon name was written in Korean. I had no idea what it was but after doing research online (there seriously is no good melon references on-line), I think it is a Santa Claus melon. I’m pretty sure (even though it isn’t really an “Asian” melon). A Santa Claus melon will do.

1/4 of average sized English cucumber

1/4 cup sugar (optional and I don’t use sugar in this recipe. I like tangy.)

Cut open the melon and remove all the seeds. Remove the rind and chop into 1-2 inch cubes. Chop up the cucumber into slices. Put the melon and cucumber into a blender and puree until smooth. It is important to puree until smooth because these fruits have a high water content. The “chunks” will freeze too icy and have an unpleasant texture.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt and the melon/cucumber mixture. Mix with a whisk. If you would like a sweeter mixture, now is the time to add the sugar. I can see adding sugar if you have an unusually tart melon. Mix until all ingredients are blended and (if you choose) the sugar is dissolved.

Put the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. I have to leave my mixture churning in the machine for up to 2 hours. The machine is deafening.

Spoon the yogurt mixture into a container. I usually use the yogurt container and Ball Plastic Freezer Jars (with the green lid). Freeze until mixture is firm about 2+ hours.

Before serving, let fro-yo soften so that it is easy to scoop. I find that this mixture needs a longer time to soften about 30 minutes before scooping, if you don’t wait, you’ll get the mess you see in the picture (still tastes good). Garnish with mint ( love having a herb garden, orange mint is used in the pic, love their smooth leaves). Fro-yo keeps in the freezer fro 7-14 days. We usually eat the batch in less than a week. Because of this, I can’t comment on texture changes the longer it stays in the freezer. The fro-yo will have a pale melon green tint. It’s very pretty.

Give this a try and tell me what you think! This can also be served with drizzled minted simple syrup for added sweetness.

-Victoria

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Raspberry Time: My Raspberry Truffles Recipe

OK. So this is my first recipe attempt. I want this to be more of a “home and life” type of blog. Hopefully, we won’t be renovating forever! Stop smirking. I keep telling myself that there is more to life than renovation!

We are getting a first round of seasonal berries raspberries in here in the PNW. They aren’t the best but they sure are good when you haven’t had them in a long time. Since they aren’t at their peak yet, I decided to make raspberry truffles. I took a recipe from Epicurious.com (don’t you love iPhone apps!) I am one of those people who uses recipes for ideas. I usually use them as vague guidance and do what I want. This recipe is from Gourmet December 2004. Here’s the recipe. What did I do differently? Well, didn’t have brandy, used cream sherry and I used 2 1/2 tablespoons. My fresh raspberries kept disappearing, hmm, David, perhaps? So, I had lots of ganache left over. I couldn’t let it go to waste so that is why my truffles looks so odd and globular. The rest of the ganache David ate with a spoon after planting hedges. (BTW- got hedges for $2.50 a piece!) This recipe is so easy. I put those deformed truffles in the fridge for about 2 hours while I tended to the garden and did chores. I then took the truffles coated them in a plastic baggie of organic unsweetened chocolate. And here they are:

My raspberry truffles

I just purchased this cake stand and couldn’t wait to use it. Isn’t the Eiffel Tower a cute touch? 🙂 The truffles didn’t last very long. It wasn’t me, it was David, I swear! A few were left out the next day. The cocoa powder begins to settle strangely on them. It doesn’t help that they were in a glass dome in our dining nook. The dining nook has windows and it was a sunny day in Western Washington. The flavor was still great but they looked pitiful. I’m sharing that information in case you want to make these for a gathering or something. Heat is not nice to truffles. Duh, huh?

This is a super easy recipe and I didn’t change much. I can’t wait to do chocolate covered cherries. And figs…

-Victoria

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