Roasted Cherry Yogurt Popsicles

These Roasted Cherry Yogurt Popsicles will keep you cool and relief for the whole summer! Fresh cherries are roasted, pureed and sieved to make a syrupy juice, then combine with a lightly sweetened plain yogurt. Little tart and not overly sweet. Great dessert to serve for a BBQ party! 

Summer is HERE! What does summer mean to you? Vacation? Beach trip? BBQ?

To me, summer means traveling, at least when I was younger. My mom was a high school teacher. When school was out, she also had vacation time. My dad would take some days off, and we would travel. Over the years, we have been to Malaysia, Singapore, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka & Kyoto), Philippines and China (Shenzhen & Beijing). Although I really can’t remember much about all those trips, I love that I got a glimpse of the world.

These days, Bryan and I rarely travel in summer, because it’s usually pricey to go anywhere. We prefer to travel off-season. BUT, we’re going to Vancouver in a few weeks! It was totally unplanned. The reason we are going because this is a business trip for Bryan. I’ll tag along as always and we will stay behind for 2 days. Woo hoo!!! I’m excited about that!

Other than traveling, summer also means frozen treat. Hong Kong’s summers are brutal. Super hot and humid, like 88˚F with 85% humidity. I refuse to go back to Hong Kong during summer. Back in the days in summer months, my parents would take us out for a short walk after dinner, sometimes to the supermarket or bakery. Supermarket was my favorite stop, because I could pick up a popsicle from the freezer. Instant relief! Who wouldn’t want a cold and sweet popsicle in a hot summer day?

These yogurt pops are creamy, not too sweet and slightly tart. First, fresh cherries were tossed with lemon zest and little bit brown sugar, then roasted in the oven. Roasting is a great way to bring out the natural sweetness from the fruit and give a more concentrated flavor. The end result of these roasted cherries is like a syrup. Combing it with a lightly sweetened tart greek yogurt, it made some balanced and tasty popsicles! These popsicles are excellent make ahead dessert for summer party. Since they are not overly sweet, they are perfect for adults!

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5 from 1 vote

Roasted Cherry Yogurt Popsicles

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cherry, dessert, frozen treat, popsicle, yogurt

Servings 10 (3-ounce) popsicles

Author Lokness

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds red cherries pitted
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• Zest of ½ lemon
• 2½ tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 ounces plain Greek yogurt (about 2 cups)
• ½ cup simple syrup

Simple Syrup:

• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
• Place pitted cherries in a 9 x 13-inches ceramic or glass baking dish. Toss with light brown sugar and lemon zest. Bake in the oven for 17 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the simple syrup. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to melt the sugar. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• Transfer the cherries with the cherry juice and lemon juice to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Strain the mixture with a sieve to a medium bowl. Use the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. You should have about 11-ounce cherry juice. Discard the skins & flesh.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt and ½ cup simple syrup.
• Add cherry juice and sweetened yogurt alternatively into popsicle mold. Fill the mold until 90% full. Insert a chopstick or skewer into each mold and move around to create swirl. Cover with a mold lid. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze for at least 8 hours.
• When the popsicles are ready, remove molds and serve. If the popsicles are stuck in the molds, dip the molds in warm water for 10 seconds or so.

Notes

1. To quickly remove cherry pits, lay a cherry on its side on a chopping board and squeeze down slightly with your palm. Use your fingers to tear open the cherry from the stem part. The pit should be easy removed.
2. If your cherries are not sweet, add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of light brown sugar when roasting.
3. I used Fage Total 5% greek yogurt.
4. Each popsicle should contain about 1/3 of cherry juice & 2/3 of sweetened yogurt.
5. These popsicles are not very sweet, which is great for adults. If you are serving these to kids, you may want to add more simple syrup to the yogurt.
6. For storage: Place a wax paper around the popsicle and put in a Ziploc bag. They can be kept for at least a week or two in the freezer. (Maybe even longer.)

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