whine & dine

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If I were to be completely honest, I’m not a huge fan of yoghurt. I don’t particularly like it plain, and I don’t even really like the fruity versions (apart from the strawberry-flavoured Meiji single-serve tubs I used to find in Cold Storage in Singapore). But this? I love.

I first tasted something like it at 2am:dessert bar in Holland Village. Smooth, a beautiful pale green hue, and it’s summery flavours dancing on your palate as the herb’s fragrance married together with the slight tang of the yoghurt. After I left Singapore, I begged Janice for the recipe, and was surprised at how easy it was to make! Because I’m an idiot, however, I’ve since misplaced the original recipe I scribbled down, so I had to turn to my ice cream bible, David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop for some help. I opted to follow a recipe that he uses for Rich Vanilla Frozen Yoghurt, and swap out the vanilla for some basil. I also used a simple syrup to sweeten the mix, and blended everything together using my immersion blender before straining and churning.

It really couldn’t be easier. Nor tastier. And I’ve also included a recipe for candied tomatoes, which go so beautifully with the frozen yoghurt – I suppose that was to be expected anyway, since it’s essentially a dessert version of a caprese salad!

Basil Frozen Yoghurt

100g caster sugar
100g water
15g basil (leaves only)
500g Greek-style yoghurt
pinch of salt
candied tomatoes (recipe below)

Combine the sugar and water in a small, heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 1 minute, swirling to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Roughly tear the basil leaves, and place in a bowl or cup. Pour over enough boiling water to cover, and steep for 10 seconds before draining well. Place the yoghurt, sugar syrup, salt and basil leaves into a blender and blend until smooth (about 1-2 minutes). Alternatively, combine the ingredients in an appropriately sized vessel and process using an immersion blender. Allow to chill 1 hour in the fridge in a covered container. Stir well, strain, and churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Serve with candied tomatoes.

Candied Tomatoes

5-10 cocktail tomatoes or large cherry tomatoes
200g sugar
1g salt
5 black peppercorns
250g water

Cut a cross in the base of each tomato and remove the core. Immerse them in rapidly boiling water for 10 seconds, then remove to an ice bath to arrest the cooking process. Once they are cool, drain and peel the skin off. Cut each tomato crosswise into slices about 5-8mm thick. (I made the mistake of cutting them too thin at first, and they disintegrated when I was trying to candy them.) Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape out the seeds. It’s more important to preserve the shape of the tomato slice than it is to get every single seed out. If necessary, rinse gently in a bowl of cold water to remove the remaining seeds, then set aside.

Combine the sugar, salt, peppercorns and water. Bring to the boil over high heat, and boil for 1 minute to dissolve. Gently place the tomatoes into the syrup, and simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half. Carefully transfer the tomato slices to an airtight container. Strain the syrup over the slices. The tomatoes will keep, in the container, for a week in the fridge. By which time, you’d probably have run out of the frozen yoghurt anyway :)