COOKING WITH MEREDITH — Creamy frozen yogurt popsicles are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up on a hot Bangkok day. Using naturally tart plain yogurt and vibrant sweet and sour fruits, you can create a delicious snack to perk up your taste buds and cool down your core.
Tarty flavors and creamy yogurt combine wonderfully for a refreshing treat and go-to snack to fight off pangs of hunger. These sweet treats can be made in minutes and require few ingredients or prep. Unlike ice cream, which needs constant churning during the freezing process, yogurt can simply be tossed into the freezer and the texture will still result in a creamy, firm ice-pop.
The huge variety of fresh tropical fruit available to Bangkok means that flavor combinations are seemingly endless. I have opted here for the sour and slightly sweet flavors of passionfruit and lime mint, but pineapple, mango, lychee or mangosteen – just to name a few – would be divine. For heartier fruit either puree, dice or macerate (cut fruit and toss in sugar or honey, allow juices to release) then mix with yogurt, honey and freeze.
Prepare the popsicle molds simply by using recycled individual-serving yogurt cups or any small plastic container already on-hand. Another great repurpose is to use the little plastic yogurt spoons as handles for your pops. I wash and reuse both spoon and container until either break.
Passionfruit Frozen Yogurt Pops
Serves 2
1 cup plain yogurt
7 fresh passionfruit
½ lime
1 tablespoon honey
Lime Mint Frozen Yogurt Pops
Serves 2
1 cup plain yogurt
2 lime
1 teaspoon fresh mint
2 tablespoon honey
For Passionfruit Pops empty the seedy flesh of the fruit into a bowl with the juice of ½ a lime. Next add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. For lime and mint flavored pops, zest the skin of one lime into a bowl, add the juice of two limes, then incorporate the remaining ingredients. Taste the sweet and sour mixtures and adjust flavors as desired.
Next divide the yogurt into four-to-six small containers. Freeze for one hour, then place a handle into the center of each container. Return to the freezer for at least three hours. When ready to enjoy run the outside of the container under tap water, so the pops will release with ease from their mold.
