A Healthier Alternative to Ice-Cream

This amazing weather has got me in the mood for ice-cream.  But rather than overdose on fat I thought I would help myself a little by using natural yoghurt, instead of rich cream and eggs.  Once you have the base of a creamy natural yoghurt, the rest is easy - just add your favourite ingredients!

Be warned though, because there is less fat and less sugar in these recipes the iced yoghurt will freeze very hard if left too long (I ate mine before this happened!) and will need to be left to soften again before eating.

Ideas to help inspire you include;  figs and honey (chop the figs, cook in a little orange juice and honey and leave to cool before blending until smooth and stirring into the yoghurt before freezing), chocolate (I made a thick sauce using Willie's 100% with water and a little honey to sweeten.  Leave to cool, stir into yoghurt and freeze).  Other delicious ideas include stirring in rich marmalade or good home-made lemon curd, or crumbling  ginger biscuits and adding with chopped stem ginger.

I could go on, but I have to get outside and eat some more iced yoghurt before the sun disappears!

Another Italian Break

Last weekend I was invited to visit one if the most beautiful areas in Italy - San Gimignano in Tuscany.  Stunning countryside, really friendly people, and obviously most importantly for me, amazing food.

Not only we were spoilt by staying in a converted farmhouse just a (very!) steep stroll down from the gorgeous town of San Gimimgnano, with an enormous kitchen that was once the cow shed (it still had the original eating troughs all along one side of the very large kitchen), but the gardener of the property insisted I visit his allotment for fresh produce - I was in heaven.  From that moment on, nobody else was allowed in the kitchen!  Interestingly everybody was very happy with that arrangement, and couldn't believe that even on holiday I wanted to cook.  What I can't believe is why people don't cook - if you want great food it is the only way (unless you want to eat out at restaurants every night, but even that surely would get boring?!).  My bounty included courgettes topped with brightly coloured flowers, celery, beautiful multicoloured large tomatoes, basil, radicchio, cucumber and  red rose for each of the signoras!  Our own garden was full of apple and plum tress that were dripping with fruit, so plum crumble was also on the menu more than once.

There is one thing that I could not make at home as well as the locals, and that was the local ice-cream at Gelateria dell'olmo - the best I have ever tasted.  Even the dairy-free was so creamy and luscious you would be hard pushed to know the difference (I sampled quite a few........for research purposes obviously!).  I figured my run up the hill and around the town walls every morning allowed me a few tastes of local produce - by the end of the week I realised running around twice may only just about cover it!!

Increased need for ice-cream!

So now I've increased my training I obviously need to increase my intake of antioxidants to counteract the damage I am doing to my body.
Antioxidants are alright on their own (berries, peppers etc.), but why not have a treat at the same time?!  It is summer after all!

Cherry Active Ice-Cream


100g Cherry Active dried cherries
50ml Cherry Active Concentrate
300ml double cream
300ml milk
6 egg yolks
175g caster sugar

1.  Leave CA cherries to soak in the concentrate while you make the ice-cream.
2.  Mix together the milk and cream in a pan then bring to the boil.
3.  While they are heating whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until they are pale and light.
4.  Pour in the cream, whisking all the time, then transfer back to the pan and cook for another five minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour into a bowl and leave to cool.
5.  Place in an ice-cream maker and churn until nearly set.  Gently stir in the soaked cherries and concentrate. then freeze.