Ice Cream Wednesday: Plum & Earl Grey Frozen Yoghurt

This week’s wonderfully delicious #icecreamwednesday post comes from my friend Leila Dukes. Leila’s long been considering setting up her own food blog. Please join me in encouraging her to do just that!

I considered using the phrase “guilt-free” in the name of this recipe, but I don’t believe that an ugly emotion like “guilt” should ever be associated with food.

I never feel guilty about enjoying any food (it’s all about balance, baby – bring on the cheeseboard now and I’ll work it off tomorrow!) but this combination of creamy yoghurt, tasty plums, real vanilla, fragrant earl grey and just a little sugar can only be a good thing. It’s refreshing and fruity rather than overly sweet; I even had it for breakfast on a particularly hot & stuffy morning.

The origins of this recipe came from this ice cream recipe from Morfudd Richards that the Indy published a couple of years ago. I’ve tweaked it a little – mainly by replacing the cream with more Greek yoghurt, to make it lighter and fresher and because I almost always have yoghurt in the fridge but hardly ever have cream.

Plum & Earl Grey Frozen Yoghurt

Ingredients

  • 600 g plums (6-7 medium sized - I had almost 15 baby ones!)
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 100 g caster sugar
  • 1 Earl Grey teabag
  • 150 ml water
  • 150 g Greek yoghurt (plus a couple of extra spoons for luck)

Instructions

  • Wash the plums, cut in half and remove the stones. Place cut-side down in a wide, shallow pan (make sure it’s well-washed; you don’t want any lingering whiffs of onion/garlic to ruin your fro-yo).

  • Split the vanilla pod along its length, scrape out the seeds and bung the whole lot in with the plums. Add the caster sugar, tea bag and water and heat until you get a few bubbles.

  • Let the sugary syrup bubble gently for 15-20 minutes to get the flavour from the vanilla pod & tea bag. Turn the plums halfway through to make sure the fruit is completely softened.

  • Pick out the tea bag and the vanilla pod (I stuck my vanilla in a jam jar of sugar to make some flavoured sugar) and blend the plums along with the syrup until smooth. Let the plum mixture cool down in the fridge for a bit. 

  • When the plum mixture has cooled, mix in the Greek yoghurt and put in an ice cream maker to churn (or pour into a plastic container and freeze, removing the container every couple of hours to beat out any ice crystals). 

  • Because this is a frozen yoghurt, it sets quite firm so take it out of the freezer for 10 minutes or so before you want to scoop.

  • I like this on its own or with a few crushed Amaretti biscuits sprinkled on top.

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!
12 Comments to "Ice Cream Wednesday: Plum & Earl Grey Frozen Yoghurt"

  1. Heavenly Housewife

    What a beautiful flavour combo. I am pleased to see that you have been able to eat your frozen yogurt after its been frozen. I tried it with my own version, and it just wasn't right. This one looks great, and I really like the idea of the crushed amaretti biscuits! For me, its always crushed speculoos.
    *kisses* HH

    Reply
  2. thelittleloaf

    I'm absolutely loving each and every ice cream wednesday post! This is another winner – love the combination of plums and earl grey. I often make a batch of homemade peach iced tea, so wonder if that might work too? Yum!

    Reply
  3. miss south

    Oooh, I've been after a good frozen yoghurt recipe after making one so solid a few weeks ago that probably still hasn't softened yet…

    I also adore cooked plums, but was getting a bit bored of just stewing them. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  4. Kavey

    Glad everyone is enjoying Leila's lovely post!

    And Little Loaf, thank you, so glad you are enjoying the whole series! There are more coming!

    Reply
  5. Su-yin

    Ooooh plums and tea! Sounds like a great combination, will try it but will sub the Earl Grey as am not a fan of it 😛

    Reply
  6. May

    Perfect timing this recipe. I have a bag full and was wondering what I could make with it. Will give it a go.

    Reply
  7. leiladukes

    Thank you for all your lovely comments! I had fun making the fro-yo and blogging about it — maybe I should listen to Kavey's encouragement!

    Meemalee, check out the original recipe in the link in the intro if you want the ice cream version. Su-yin, I think it would be great with any tea you're a fan of — I'm going to try it with a smokey lapsang souchong soon.

    It also works with greengages which are ripe and in season at the moment, although you don't get the pretty pink colour!

    Reply
  8. Mamta

    This is such a lovely idea Kav. I will definitely make this with my home made yoghurt. To make the yoghurt like Greek Y, I will strain it through muslin, as Indians do for making Srikhand. I have sooooooooo many plums at the moment, I can't even give them away! Most of my neighbours have their own trees of plums and apples. Made some jelly and chilli jelly yesterday. I have too much chutney left from last year, so not making any this year. This looks brilliant :-). I will have to dig out my ice-cream maker.

    Reply

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