Frozen Peach Yoghurt

The shops and markets are full of summer fruits; succulent peaches, nectarines and apricots; firm green grapes;  fragrant cantaloupe melons and crisp, crunchy watermelons. This week I wanted to make a dairy dessert which was reasonably healthy and had a light and summery flavour. This recipe for Frozen Peach Yoghurt seemed simple and fun (and low-fat!)

Either fresh or canned peaches can be used to make this frozen yoghurt, and although I had planned to use fresh, the peaches Ninja  bought in the supermarket weren’t quite ripe enough. I was worried they wouldn’t have a strong enough flavour, so I used canned peaches instead, being careful to rinse off the overly-sweet syrup.

This is probably the type of dessert best enjoyed on a lazy summer’s day, swinging on a hammock in the shade of a palm tree…

Fresh fruit is better in my book but canned made a fine substitute this time…

FROZEN PEACH YOGHURT
Recipe by Martha Rose Shulman
Published in NY Times
Yield: One quart.

NOTE: The first stage of preparation must be done the night before you make the frozen yoghurt.

1 pound ripe peaches (or 1 large can)
1 small or medium banana
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (I used 1.5%)
1/4 cup mild flavored honey, such as clover
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. If using fresh peaches: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice and water. When the water comes to a boil, drop in the peaches and count to 30. Remove from the water and transfer directly to the ice water. Allow to cool for about a minute, then peel off the skin. Dice the peaches, and discard the pits. Place in a resealable plastic bag.
2. If using canned peaches: drain and rinse them, dice and place in bag.
3. Slice the banana, and place in the bag with the peaches. Freeze overnight.
4.  Chill a one-quart container in the freezer. In the bowl of a food processor (or liquidizer) fitted with a steel blade, mix together the yogurt, honey and vanilla extract.
5. Remove the frozen fruit from the freezer. Break up the peaches if they have frozen into a lump. Place the frozen fruit in the food processor, and pulse until it has broken up in the yogurt. Mix until smooth, making sure there are no big lumps.
6.  Scrape out of the food processor into the chilled container, and freeze for two hours for soft-serve frozen yogurt or four hours or longer for solid frozen yogurt. Allow to soften for 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator before scooping.

This will keep for two to three weeks in the freezer. 

By the way – you know when you read a word over and over again and it starts to look really really strange? Well that has just  happened to me with the word yoghurt, yogurt, yoghurt, yogurt, yoghurt, yogurt…. but I looked it up – and you can spell it BOTH ways.