When the weather is hot and midsummer’s bounty of berries, stone fruit, melons and bananas need a life after the fruit bowl, these frozen desserts are just a quick blitz away.
Who needs an ice-cream machine when granita, sorbet and ice blocks can be devised with a swift spin in a blender and a few hours of chill in the freezer? Many of these recipes can be prepared in under 15 minutes, leaving more time for summer’s ultimate pastime: doing nothing at all.
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Tell the kids they’re getting ice-cream for breakfast. Then unsheathe the ice-block mould to reveal Liam Charles’ nutritional Trojan horse – an early morning hit of fibre (oats), calcium (yoghurt) and antioxidants (berries). Lemon zest gives zing to the sweetness, while berries can be substituted for any fruit you have on hand – think banana, mango or pineapple.
Perched in a small glass as the meal’s closing act, Ben Tish’s take on the Sicilian shaved ice dessert has an elegant simplicity and just four ingredients: strawberries, lemon juice, water and caster sugar. The best part of the preparation? Using your fork to stir and scrape the frozen mixture into a mound of ice crystals. Graduate to Yotam Ottolenghi’s more complex granita recipes, which make use of poached peaches, or rockmelon with lime and tequila.
This treat, according to Ravneet Gill, “sings of summertime”. Ripe roasted peaches and raspberry sauce star in the pastry chef’s take on this retro dessert, which was created in London in the late 1800s by French chef Auguste Escoffier in honour of Australian operatic soprano Nellie Melba. Gill’s recipe eschews traditional vanilla ice-cream as its base for a version that is blitzed through with tinned peach puree to intensify the peachiness.
Another healthy hit with children – or a creamy, guilt-free dessert for adults. Tom Hunt gives a second life to overripe fruit by chopping it up, popping it in the freezer, then blending it with plain yoghurt to create a soft-serve-like tutti frutti sorbet. Add your favourite toppings – think grated chocolate, toasted coconut flakes or pieces of crunchy macadamia nuts.
Frozen banana has the texture and sweetness of ice-cream, and in chef Marc Grossman’s easy vegan recipe, frozen banana halves are dipped in a rich melted dark chocolate mixture then sprinkled with crunchy toppings. Tip: save your sticks from store-bought ice-cream or coffee stirrers to make these at home.
Cookbook author Benjamina Ebuehi’s take on the Italian frozen mousse marries mango with the salty-sour spice of Mexico. Layers of freshly chopped mango, zesty cream and whipped sweetened egg whites fill a loaf tin. Then, as the final act before the frozen “semi-cold” rectangle is sliced and served, the semifreddo is dusted generously with Tajín – a ready-made mix of chilli peppers, lime and salt that Mexicans love sprinkled over mango as a street snack. For another Mexican twist on the Italian dessert, Thomasina Miers’ recipe for cinnamon semifreddo with chocolate drizzle and raspberries laces the berries with tequila or mezcal.
Why should kids have all the fun when it comes to icy poles? Angela Hartnett’s boozy recipe for grown-up popsicles skips the gin and vermouth of a traditional negroni, and opts for watermelon, orange and lime juice and enough Campari to get a summer party started. (Removing watermelon seeds will be the most time-consuming part of your prep.) If the children want in on the ice block action, try Tom Hunt’s recipe for wonky fruit ice lollies, which packs the mould with overripe fruit, milk, chia seeds and a sweetener of your choice to create creamy, frozen rainbow confectionary.
“It couldn’t be simpler to make,” says Anna Jones of this rockmelon sorbet that has just four ingredients (three if you ditch the frozen berry garnish, and two if your ripe melon is naturally sweet enough to leave out the maple syrup). Frozen pieces of chopped melon are thrown into a high-powered blender, along with (optional) maple syrup and the juice and zest of a lemon. The result? A dessert that provides cold comfort while “appeasing my ice-cream-obsessed son”, says Jones.
