Frozen Goodness

Ahhh, one of the biggest pluses about summer is that frozen treats taste even better.  Yum!

Not to mention the fact that fresh fruit is cheaper and found in abundance.

I found a recipe for strawberry buttermilk sherbet that I wanted to try...and then I found an almost identical recipe for strawberry buttermilk gelato.  The gelato won out because I forgot to buy the agave nectar required for the other recipe.  I debated on using corn syrup, but I didn't know how much that would change the recipe, so I opted for the gelato since I had all of the ingredients on hand for it.

It was super delicious!  Almost a sorbet, but with a splash of dairy...yet not as rich as ice cream.  Refreshing, delicious, and relatively low-calorie.  Yum!  Besides that, it was really easy to make.  It has such a basic recipe that you could easily memorize it.  Then you don't have to hunt down the recipe every time you want to make it.  Besides, I'm always a fan of easy!

I promise you this recipe will be a keeper.

Strawberry Buttermilk Gelato

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
5 cups quartered strawberries (about 4 pints)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk

Directions:

Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Pour into a large bowl; cool completely.

Place strawberries in a blender, and process until smooth.  Add strawberry puree and buttermilk to sugar syrup; stir to combine.

Pour the strawberry mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes 8 (1/2 cup) servings.

Nutrition information: 134 calories, 0.8 g fat, 1.6 g protein, 31.7 g carbohydrates, 1.7 g fiber, 1 mg cholesterol, 0.3 mg iron, 17 mg sodium, 48 mg calcium.

Source: Cooking Light, July 2001, found here.

Notes: This recipe is perfect as-is.  I wouldn't change a thing.  But if you're curious to try out the recipe that I didn't end up making, here it is. 

I still totally want to make the other recipe too! Maybe I'll make it and then have a taste test to see if one wins out over the other or if they are both equally good recipes.  They are both Cooking Light recipes which you can find on the MyRecipes website and they are both rated 5 out of 5 stars.  So, either way, I think you can't go wrong.  By the way, the sherbet calls for a raspberry flavored liquor.  I planned to use 1 teaspoon of raspberry extract in place of the liquor.  So, if I end up making it, I'll just add it on to this blog post and give a side-by-side comparison!