The cherry tree went into overdrive early this year. It went from little white globes to deep, dark luscious looking cherries in an instant. And there were lots of them.
Last year I turned the cherries into jam, because no matter how long they were left on the tree and how dark they got, they didn’t get any sweeter. But given the mild winter, it was hoped that this year’s crop would be different.
Sadly, no such luck.
My mum tried one and said they were fine. I don’t know how, but she must have gotten the only sweet cherry off the tree, because I tried one . . . and . . . well, you know that face you pull when you eat something sour? The one where your eyebrows disappear into your hair-line before you screw your eyes up and the skin on your face suddenly feels two sizes too small and your teeth go all tingly and then you shudder and shake your head before you do a little stompy dance, finishing the whole performance off with a “GAH!”. Well . . . that happened. While my dad laughed.
They were deliciously plump and juicy, but incredibly sour.
So what do you do with a glut of sour cherries that you don’t want to turn into more jam?
Some were put into these smoothies . . . and some were turned into these ice lollies.
Temperatures in the south-west of the UK are still ridiculously hot, so anything cold or frozen is still pretty high up on the agenda.
If you are not a fan of sweet things, then these ice lollies are the perfect thing for you.
I added a touch of almond extract to bring out the flavour of the cherries and the lemon adds a tartness that works well with the already sour cherries. The creamy frozen yoghurt provides relief from all that sourness. I want to make more ice lollies with yoghurt – so yummy and a completely different texture to the cherry puree when frozen.
You can of course make these lollies with cherries that are not face-contortingly sour. But where’s the fun in that?
Sour Cherry Fro-Yo Ice Lollies
Ingredients:
Cherry Layer:
- 2 cups of sour cherries (approximately 360g)
- Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 40ml agave syrup
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
Yoghurt Layer:
- 125ml full fat greek yoghurt
- 10ml agave syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Remove the stones from the cherries and place in a saucepan with the lemon juice and zest and the agave syrup. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the almond extract and using a blender (either hand-held or stand alone) puree the mixture. Leave to cool to room temperature.
- Once the cherry puree has cooled, stir together the yoghurt, agave syrup and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
- Layer the yoghurt and cherry puree into ice lolly moulds and use a wooden stick or a spoon to swirl the layers together a little. Don’t swirl too much or you won’t get a marbled effect. (You may have some cherry puree left over. Keep it in the fridge and add to yoghurt or smoothies or alternatively combine with some olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of salt for a fruity salad dressing).
- Place the lollies in the freezer. After 45 minutes to 1 hour, add the wooden sticks and then leave to freeze completely.
© The Pink Rose Bakery 2014
Recipe adapted from Take A Megabite
The Pink Rose Bakery 
I love these! One thing you can make with sour cherries is visinada – a Greek sour cherry syrup which is usually mixed with ice water to make the most refreshing drink (or you can pour it over ice cream).
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That sounds interesting, thanks for the tip! 🙂
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Where’s the video clip so we can see the face and the stompy dance..? And those sour cherries are calling out for some roast duck to balance, or a cheesecake to top.
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Fortunately there is neither any photographic or cinematic evidence of the sour face. It really wouldn’t be pretty!
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Awwww, spoilsport.
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