dessert

Homemade Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt

August 16, 2013 by Erica

Homemade Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt

I’ve been eating fresh fruit like it’s going out of style lately.

Berries alllll the time. I wasn’t joking on Monday when I told you we’d eaten more than 2 pounds of blueberries over the course of a week. And by “we” I mean… mostly me. Blueberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And snack. And another snack. And dessert.

You get the picture.

So naturally, I had to make sure I could work fresh fruit into this week’s ice cream. The perfect solution? Pinkberry frozen yogurt!

Homemade Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt

Are you familiar with Pinkberry? It’s a popular frozen yogurt chain featuring tart-tasting yogurt and lots of yummy toppings, like fresh fruit. There are many similar yogurt shops and chains that have sprouted up around the country; I’ve heard that Red Mango is similar. And while I will generally pass on frozen yogurt, I make a serious exception for Pinkberry.

Pinkberry is different because of that tart taste. It’s not trying to be ice cream – it really tastes like you took some yogurt and stuck it in your freezer. So… guess what I decided to do?

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Yogurt Panna Cotta with Balsamic Blueberry Sauce

August 12, 2013 by Erica

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Balsamic Blueberries

I don’t think it’s any secret that I like food. I mean obviously… I write this blog. But it’s not that often that just the name of a recipe can elicit the response in me that this one did.

Every Wednesday I get an email from the farmer whose CSA box I buy with a few notes about the next day’s pickup. She often includes a couple recipes, especially for ingredients you might not be as familiar with (like turnips!). And this past week, one of the recipes was this: Panna Cotta With Balsamic Blueberries.

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Balsamic Blueberries

I gasped out loud… alone in my apartment.

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Chili-Infused Pomegranate Sorbet

August 9, 2013 by Erica

Chili-Infused Pomegranate Sorbet

So I guess I never got around to posting my vacation pictures for you this week, did I?

Oops. Maybe this weekend.

I was catapulted head-first into the week when my flights home on Sunday got messed up due to weather delays. We boarded the plane, we sat, then we got off the plane, we sat, my connection from New York took off while I was still on the ground in Boston, and then I went back home to my parents’ house for the night.

Chili-Infused Pomegranate Sorbet

It was a very weird feeling to start the day in my childhood home outside of Boston and end up at my office in Salt Lake, having been up since 2:30 AM Mountain Time. Ugh. Direct flights only from now on!

And that is my long-winded excuse for why I haven’t posted vacation photos.

But I doubt that what you wanted out of this post was a bunch of bitching about vacation travel. How rude of me! You wanted sorbet.

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Caramelized Banana Ice Cream (Dairy-Free)

July 26, 2013 by Erica

Caramelized Banana Ice Cream

I have another dairy-free ice cream for you. And – hallelujah – it doesn’t require an ice cream maker.

Have you ever made banana ice cream? If not, it’s like magic – you slice up a frozen banana, throw it in the blender or food processor, add some nut butter and cocoa powder if you want, and a minute later you have a sweet frozen treat that you won’t believe is just a banana. The first time I tried it, I was vegan and missing ice cream terribly. I was so excited that I called my mom and babbled to her about it for minutes before realizing that it was past 11 pm her time, and I had definitely just woken her up from a deep sleep. Oops. Banana ice cream is just that exciting.

Caramelized Banana Ice Cream

Well, this is taking banana ice cream to the next level by caramelizing the bananas before pureeing them, and then freezing the mixture. The result is a wonderfully indulgent-tasting frozen treat that, once again, is just a banana. Well, OK, this time the banana has coconut oil and honey added to it (or maple syrup if you’d like to make it totally vegan). But it is blissfully lacking any cream, eggs, or refined sugar… and forget all the stirring, straining, and tempering. Just a few simple ingredients, and no fancy equipment except a blender (and even the cheapest blender will work here – I would know).

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Coconut Almond Fudge Crunch Ice Cream (Vegan)

July 19, 2013 by Erica

Coconut Almond Fudge Crunch Ice Cream

Behold my first vegan ice cream!

I should have shown you this ice cream a while ago. It’s a little unforgivable that I haven’t, actually. But you see, some things got in the way.

First, I needed to work on the recipe.

Next I needed a batch that could actually stay in my freezer long enough to be photographed.

Then I needed my friends to try some.

Last, I needed to take some good pictures… you know, before the subject of my photographs disappeared from the bowl.

Coconut Almond Fudge Crunch Ice Cream

It’s actually a wonder that this whole post isn’t just empty bowl pictures like the one above. But, four batches later, despite my best efforts, I am finally showing you this ice cream.

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