years ago i had three beehives as a hobby. the bees gathered nectar from wildflowers, mostly raspberry in june and linden trees in july and then heather when it bloomed in august and into the fall. sad to say my then wife developed an allergy to bee stings so we quit. oddly enough quite a few of the other beekeepers around also had wives who were allergic but still kept at it. hopefu;ly the wives were not involved and the hives were away from the keepers homes but i always had a sneaking suspicion that there were more devious notions involved...
anyway i learned a lot about honeybees around the world and the huge variety in flavor of the honey they produce. for today's recipe i am using an orange blossom honey i acquired when i was in Spain last december. i believe it should be an excellent match for the alphonso mangoes from india and the homemade yogurt from norwegian cows milk. the alphonso mangoes, or hapoos as we call them in india are in my opinion the best mangoes available. at least they are the best i have ever tasted. there were several varieties of mango already growing on the land where we built our house, which happened to be in the district where hapoos are grown. we are lucky to have them. but i have to admit that the pulp i am using here was bought at the store.
and of course there are also many varieties of yogurt with differences both in the milk and the cultures used. depending on the method, temperature and timing the flavor will vary considerably. my wife made today's yogurt from homogenized whole milk, 3,8% fat. i wanted a fuller fat content so i added some cream to it but the cream has not had any time to sour. i am not sure if it would be better to have started with full fat yogurt instead. anyway while this recipe is for honey mango frozen yogurt it would be more precise to call it: homemade frozen orange blossom honey alphonso mango homemade yogurt with a hint of vanilla.
by now you may have guessed that vanilla flavors also vary. i am using an american made extract of madgaskar bourbon vanilla. while this recipe does rely on produce from europe, asia, africa and north america it is very simple and quick to make.
the ingredients:
3 dl somewhat sour yogurt (not low fat)
2 dl alphonso mango pulp
2 Tbsp orange blossom honey
2 Tbsp whipping cream
1/3 tsp vanilla extract
i just poured all the ingredients in a bowl
and mixed them together using an immersion blender
it seemed i had too little yogurt so i added more
and mixed again until smooth. then put it in the freezer. after one hour i took it out and stirred it thoroughly to prevent it becoming unevenly hard. because i wanted to use so much mango pulp i am not expecting this to be exceptionally creamy and smooth like the best ice cream but i want to avoid any crystals. one hour later i again stirred it to break up the solid mass formed on the top bottom and sides. and lastly, one more quick stir before serving. the total time in the freezer was about 3 hours. if i was in a hurry a minimum of 2-2.5 hours could suffice if the serving bowls are prechilled.
now the thing about frozen desserts like this is that the colder they are the less the flavors come through. so the idea is not to get it as firm as possible but rather a consistency more like soft ice. because this melts quite fast i started with a somewhat firm slightly crystallized consistency and stirred it a little in the serving glass to get it softer. while stirring you can actually hear it getting smoother.
then i tossed on a cherry and drizzled a little more of that lucious orange blossom honey on top. by the time it was served it was just about ideal, smooth and free of any crystals.
enjoy the happy days of summer while they are here.
and consider the fact that there would not be much around for us all to eat were it not for the bees who pollinate countless plants. so support your local beekeepers and give all bees, not just honeybees a helping hand by letting wildflowers grow, planting flowers your local bees prefer and by all means avoid pesticides and herbicides.
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