Oh, cherries. You were here and gone before I knew it. I am glad we made the most of our time together. I have learned that I need to freeze some tart cherries in order to give me more opportunities to bake with them. It all happens so quickly. I bet some of you are smarter than me and already have some frozen cherries waiting to make a nice pie or cake. I put my last pint of cherries into this frozen yogurt, a fitting tribute to one of my favorite fruits.
David Lebovitz’s recipe for vanilla frozen yogurt remains one of my all-time favorite frozen treats. The addition of cherries is lovely and really preserves their amazing summery taste. Of course the ice cream is so good that they still won’t be around for long.
If anyone is looking for a delicious frozen treat in Chicago, head over to Miko’s Italian Ice. It is one of my favorite things— each flavor better than the next. My two favorites are peach and grapefruit, which only show up occasionally.
Cherry Frozen Yogurt (recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
- 1 pound fresh sour cherries, stemmed and pitted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 2 drops almond extract
Put cherries in a medium saucepan with the sugar. Cover, bring to boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Cook until cherries are cooked through. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Puree the cherries and their liquid in a blender with yogurt and almond extract until smooth. Chill for at least 2 hours, then freeze in your ice cream maker.
***Play around with this recipe! Try different fruits! I am about to attempt peach frozen yogurt, I’ll be curious to hear what other ideas you guys have…
OH, I almost forgot! If anyone of you do have tart cherries sitting in your freezer waiting to be used, make this slab pie that Smitten Kitchen posted about a couple of weeks ago. It is really awesome.
Jennifer says:
August 18th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I have four quarts of MI tart cherries in the freezer. Every year I worry until I have some socked away in the freezer. Am I smart or compulsive?
The no-cook Artichoke-Fennel Pasta from Gourmet was good – especially if you love fresh fennel like I do.
Whitney says:
August 18th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I have some sour cherries stashed away for a rainy day :) I made peach ice cream from The Perfect Scoop this weekend and it is tremendously good. Go check it out.
Tim says:
August 18th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Jennifer- You are smart. Glad to hear that the pasta was good. I’ll give it a try.
Whitney- Seems like you are enjoying the ice cream maker! told you!
Michelle says:
August 19th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Wow. Just look at that color! This looks fabulous.
Andilynn says:
August 19th, 2009 at 6:32 am
I love, love, love, sour cherries. But I can never find any in the local stores here in Southwestern PA or at any of the farmers markets. My aunt, who lives in Ithaca, NY, makes cherry jam with them. And it is my all time favorite spread on toast. She adds just a little almond extract to her jam and it is soooo goooood!!! Tim, I can only imagine how wonderful your frozen yogurt must taste….I guess I’ll just have to hope I’ll taste it in my dreams tonight!
maggie says:
August 19th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Oh dear, I did not freeze any. And now they’re gone. That frozen yogurt looks super!
dragonfly pie says:
August 19th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Oh, this looks so, so good. I have my own frozen cherry dessert that I make a lot in the summer–basically just dumping some frozen cherries in the food processor with some cocoa powder and chocolate chips. It turns into this deliciously creamy cross between ice cream and sorbet. The sour cherries make your recipe sound even better.
Heather @ chik n pastry says:
August 19th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hi fellow chicagoan-er (is that right??!). Caroline @ Whipped recommended your blog as another Chicago reader. Love your pics – I’m inspired to one day buy a nice camera but haven’t done so yet…..
And sadly, I didn’t freeze any cherries – my freezer is a stupid side-by-side and was crammed full of other stuff. But there’s definitely room now, and i’m filling it with blueberries!
Laura [What I Like] says:
August 19th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I had the same problem…they totally passed me by! All I did was pickle and few and then the season was over.
deena says:
August 19th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I just enjoyed a popsicle made from sour cherry jam mixed with yogurt. Similar taste, for those of us still waiting for the ice cream maker fairy to arrive.
Josh Reed says:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I’m having a formal party tomorrow and I’m making a variant of this right now with blackberries for it. Thanks, your food always looks so lovely and is very inspiring!
Tim says:
August 21st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Thanks, Josh. I hope the party is a success!
Tim says:
August 21st, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Have you tried this with the strained yogurt as David Lebovitz does? Curious if the flavor is different.
Alas, no sour cherries in TX. Had to buy canned as I couldn’t even find frozen ones.
The Purple Foodie says:
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Love the colour of the frozen yoghurt. Can’t stop staring at my screen.
Tim says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
OK, I made this, but did amend a bit. I doubled the yogurt, and added 8oz of cream cheese to make a cherry cheesecake version… OH MY… next step will be to add graham crackers…
and a said note… how could anyone do this? http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/tart_cherry_glut_brings_low_pr.html
Alisa says:
August 28th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Oh that looks good! Wish we had more cherries around.
Sophie says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
The color on this is gorgeous. Sour desserts are delicious, there aren’t enough of ’em. I bet this puts lemon chills to shame!
LKP says:
July 2nd, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Will this work if I don’t have an ice cream maker (i.e. can I just use the regular freezer for longer)?
Tim says:
July 3rd, 2012 at 11:56 am
LKP-It will not be the same to just freeze it, part of what the ice cream maker does is incorporate air. By freezing I you will just end up with a yogurt ice cube. Saveur recently posted alternative methods for ice cream making, which might be helpful: http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Ice-Cream-Unplugged
LKP says:
July 3rd, 2012 at 2:03 pm
thank for the link. i think i will try out the ice cream in a ziploc bag option!
Nick says:
June 11th, 2016 at 12:45 am
I know this post is a few years old, but it’s definitely a good one. Just followed this recipe with some sour cherries out here in California, and I’m very happy with the results. The flavor reminds me of a cobbler, and the results are creamier than I was expecting. Thanks!