For The Love of Yogurt (Blueberry Yogurt Cake & Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt) [PLUS: A Kitchen Travesty]

We food bloggers are creating quite the online ouvre. While some of us are leaving behind breast cupcakes, the rest are leaving behind fabulous recipes. Case in point: Clotilde's Blueberry Yogurt Cake:

And David's frozen yogurt recipe which I applied to a recently acquired tub of sour cherries making Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt:

The primary ingredients for both these recipes came from--yup, you guessed it--the farmer's market. The blueberries and sour cherries I bought from the same stand. I was really only going to buy blueberries but when the woman there mentioned sour cherries I remembered reading an article that said: "If you see sour cherries at the market, snatch them up. You can put them in the freezer and use them after sour cherry season is over." So I reluctantly requested the cherries too and I went home with two fruits, unsure of what I would do.

The answer came by way of the third ingredient, an ingredient I acquired two weeks earlier at the Ronnybrook Dairy stand. Yup: yogurt. (Cue Mel Brooks: "Ya hoid of me?") I knew yogurt would last a long time in my fridge and I figured I could concoct something to do with it--maybe eat it with berries and honey or use it to coat my cat after setting her on fire. I figured yogurt was a good thing to have so I bought it. And I forgot about it. Until the blueberries and the cherries came along.

With the blueberries, I immediately went to Clotilde's site because I remembered her posting about a blueberry yogurt cake. Sure enough, I just did an onsite search, found the recipe and ran to my kitchen to get started.

It was very easy to do. Wildly easy to do. In fact, you should do it right now. I'll wait. You'll be done in 10 minutes.

The interesting ingredient is--yes, right, we get it: yogurt.

You mix that in with eggs, sugar, vanilla, rum. And then you add flour, baking powder, and blueberries. That's the recipe. Into the pan it goes:

I sprinkled the top with vanilla sugar I keep on hand for moments where I want to sprinkle a yogurt cake with sugar. Into the oven it went and all seemed right in the world.

And then? TRAGEDY STRUCK.

It came out of the oven all beautiful and golden brown. Let's admire it once again, even though we've seen this picture above:

I let it cool on the rack, as suggested, for 10 minutes. And then I flipped it on to the rack. That was smooth and easy. I peeled the paper off the bottom. Now I wanted it to be right side up again so the top wouldn't have creases from the rack. So I flipped it on to a plate. BAD IDEA! Because once it's on the plate right side up, how to you keep it right side up and transfer it back to the rack? With your hands? Do you try to lift it with your hands and move it but wouldn't that...

To quote Mr. Bill: "OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

And when you try to flip the rest by hand:

"DOUBLE OH NOOOOOOO!!!!"

As Gerald wrote on the Flickr comments: "Massacred!"

It's true: all that beauty destroyed in one stupid gesture. I've learnt my lesson well this time--and like Madonna, I've lived to tell. I will not flip anything over on to a plate ever again. And since this wasn't for a party or anything, it was really just for me and Craig and whoever else came over, I put it all crumbled up in tupperware and picked at it and it does taste oh so good. The yogurt keeps it moist and light and the blueberries really pop and blend well with the sugar, vanilla and rum. 'Tis a good cake recipe. And probably not that bad for you.

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And now a success story. A David Lebovitz story. It involves cherries:

David's recipe for frozen yogurt was for strawberries. I had cherries. Sour cherries. What could I do?

I pitted the cherries with my fingers (I need to buy a cherry pitter.) I put them in a bowl and then, completely on my own approximation, added sugar. I added about 2/3rds a cup. I also added a splash of vodka, as suggested by David. This is what it looked like at the start:

And this is what it looked like an hour later:

Them cherries give up lots o'juice. And that juice is oh so sweet and tart.

You pour it all, cherries and juice and love, into a food processor. Then you add 1 cup of yogurt and blend. The yogurt better be plain and good:

Then into the fridge to chill for an hour and once that hour's up you put it in your ice cream maker. Let it churn, churn, churn, and out comes:

Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt!

Inspired by David, patented by me---this is a fun way to use cherries. I'm sure there are other ways to use cherries too. Like you can bake them into a cake, but just be careful when you flip it over.

And that's today's contribution to my ouvre. Have a great weekend!