How amazing is this weather?! The windows are wide open, the winter quilt has been packed away and I have no interest at all in hot food (unless it’s from a barbecue of course – invites welcome…). So now is definitely the time for making ice cream, frozen yoghurt, granita etc before the weather breaks again.

Although ice cream is awesome, I am such a wimp and perennially cold that I rarely eat it. I am not one of those people you see braving it on Brighton’s pebbled beach in ‘summer’, clad in scarf and fingerless gloves, clutching an ice cream cone. Even in a warm, toasty restaurant, there is inevitably something more enticing or daring on the desserts menu. So it is reserved to those wonderful slivers of summer holiday where you find yourself ambling through narrow cobbled streets, taking in the sights of an extraordinarily old but new-to-you city, chasing the promise of a breeze and the faint whisper of an espresso. Sleepy from a long lunch, hazy from too much rosé and flushed from the heat, you stumble, quite by chance, upon a gelateria. You feel blessed. Tasting a new flavour or the comfort of a classic, I have many of these memories, some shared and some alone. They are perfect moments in time and, for me, they are filed under ICE CREAM.

Today’s recipe is for frozen yoghurt, ice cream’s mildly healthier cousin. Lighter than ice cream but just as creamy, the fresh rhubarb flavour in this recipe gives way to the warmth of ginger in one intense and refreshing flavour burst.

Enjoy the sun (don’t forget to wear sunscreen, kiddos) – and wishing you equally fond ice cream memories.

If you want a more vibrantly coloured frozen yoghurt, you can use forced rhubarb which has brighter stalks or you can add a dash of pink food colouring to the mixture. I have left mine au naturel as I like to avoid adding food colouring where I can – the beauty of home-cooked food is that it’s pure!

Rhubarb & ginger frozen yoghurt

Ingredients:

– 250g rhubarb, cut into 1-2cm chunks
– 75g light brown soft sugar
– 50g condensed milk
– 2 heaped tablespoons ginger preserve
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 4 tablespoons honey
– 250g (full fat) Greek yoghurt

Method:

In a saucepan on a medium heat, simmer the rhubarb and sugar until the rhubarb is soft. Spread onto a tray lined with clingfilm and freeze for 2 to 3 hours, until solid.

Break the rhubarb into chunks and blitz in a food processor for a couple of minutes, along with the condensed milk, ginger, vanilla and honey.

Beat the Greek yoghurt until (very) soft peaks form. Stir into the rhubarb mixture and pour into a plastic container with a lid. Tip: You could also use a metal tin, lined with baking paper.

Freeze for about 6 hours or overnight, until the yoghurt is frozen.

Remove from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving to soften a little. Serve solo or with additional stewed rhubarb.

Enjoy (in sunglasses)!

Source: Recipe and photos by pip & little blue.