Almost every shop that sells frozen yogurt is now offering “tart” yogurt, which is little more than yogurt-flavored yogurt, complete with the tang of the real thing. I like it, but not as much as I like regular yogurt or my homemade frozen yogurt, which uses a base of tangy Greek-style yogurt that is lightened with beaten egg whites. The tartness of the commercial frozen yogurt can be quite strong, and while this isn’t a bad thing in the plain yogurt variety, it’s not always a big plus for the fruit-flavored “tart” yogurts.

When it comes to these, although flavors like mango, blueberry and strawberry sound promising, the aforementioned tartness can overwhelm the flavor of the fruit. I like it when the sweetness of fresh fruit is showcased by the yogurt, not overshadowed by it. In this homemade variety, strawberries are definitely the star in the flavor department - even though a tangy yogurt is the base.

I used my usual frozen yogurt base and added lots of fresh strawberries to it, omitting vanilla and other flavorings that might mask the berries. My berries happened to be very, very sweet, but if yours aren’t quite sweet enough, you can always add a bit of extra sugar to the recipe. The only caveat to using fresh berries is that your yogurt (or ice cream, gelato, etc.) can develop large ice crystals after it has been stored for a while, since fresh fruit has a high water content. One trick that I used to make sure the yogurt stayed creamy was to add a little vodka to the mixture. This isn’t necessary and can be omitted if you prefer, but since alcohol has a lower freezing point than water, a little bit in a mixture can really help discourage the formation of large ice crystals. You can’t taste it in the finished product unless you want to try and punch up the strawberry flavor with some berry-infused vodka.

Even with the vodka, the yogurt did need to thaw a bit before it was soft enough to scoop again after a couple of days in the freezer. I like this best fresh from the ice cream maker, but a 15 minute wait for the yogurt to thaw still takes less time than a trip to the nearest frozen yogurt shop.

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I spent a lot of time at the park when I was little. I did all kinds of things: biking, roller skating, playing soccer and just about any other sport/activity you can think of alone or with my friends. One of my favorite activities - if I had a bit of change in my pocket - was paying a visit to the ice cream truck when it rolled through the parking lot. I tried everything, from flavored chewing gum that only cost pennies (when I really didn’t have anything to spend) to colorful, shaped ice cream pops with balls of rock-hard frozen chewing gum embedded in them (awful, but oh-so appealing anyway). My absolute favorite treats were Drumstick Sundae Cones: sugar cones filled with vanilla ice cream, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts.

The original cones will be classics for a long time to come, but these days I’m not content to stick with only one kind of ice cream treat. I want better chocolate, more interesting flavors and - most importantly - I want it to be homemade. So, just like I did earlier this year with Girl Scout Cookies, I set about making my own homemade ice cream Drumsticks!

I picked up a package of sugar cones at the grocery store and searched through the ice cream to find a flavor that appealed to me. Homemade ice cream or gelato would be great, too, but I didn’t have any ready in my freezer. I settled on a delicious flavor called “French Silk”, which is vanilla and coffee swirl ice cream with big chocolate chips.

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Ice cream cakes are one of the best summertime desserts out there. While a cold mousse or a simple strawberry tart might make the covers of food magazines, nothing lights up a gathering of hot, hungry people like a gorgeous ice cream cake - especially if there are kids involved. And, of course, I feel that a homemade cake is always better than an store bought one (especially considering that ice cream parlors are not necessarily known for the quality of their cake). When I outlined the process of making an ice cream cake the other day, it was a teaser for this recipe for the whole ice cream cake.

This cake uses mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate cake layers and topped with vanilla buttercream. In my book, it’s the best that ice cream cakes get. The green-tinted of the ice cream immediately lets guests know what flavor they’re in for and it looks quite nice set against the dark chocolate-colored cake.

I like this cake recipe for ice cream cakes because it is tender, has a good flavor, and stays very moist even after it has been frozen and refrozen repeatedly (since leftovers need to be kept in the freezer). I credit the cake’s excellent texture to the use of vegetable oil instead of butter. The chocolate/cocoa flavor of the cake is strong enough that you will never miss the “buttery” flavor of butter and vegetable oil does a much better job of preventing baked goods from drying out than butter does.

The frosting here is my real vanilla bean buttercream. The recipe makes just enough to put a thin layer all over the cake and it tastes wonderful with the chocolate and mint layers. It holds up quite well to freezing, too. When cold, it becomes quite firm, but like the ice cream layer, it becomes soft and easily sliced when the cake warms up even slightly.

This recipe makes a big cake - three 10×15-inch layers - so you might want to keep this fact in mind before you bake it. It is fantastic for parties, barbecues and pretty much any summer gathering where a freezer will be available for storage. If it’s too big, use my how to make an ice cream cake tutorial to make an ice cream layer for a smaller cake.

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Even though food scientists have told usthat eating ice cream will not cool you down for more than a few minutes at a time, I am more than willing to take those few minutes of coolness on a hot summer day if it gives me an excuse to eat ice cream. But as I think about it, cream-based desserts/snacks - like ice cream - tend to coat your mouth as you eat, and that’s not exactly a welcome thing if you’re already parched. So, I’m using the excuse to eat a far more refreshing, fruit-based gelato when the temperature is up.I used mango as my base, since I love the fruit and it’s a flavor that you won’t find just anywhere. Fresh, ripe mango will work well for this recipe, but I actually used some jarred mango (packed in juice) that is carried by Trader Joe’s because the fruit is consistently good and I knew that it would be a good way to ensure that I had enough ripe mango for my puree. I added a bit of lime juice to temper the sweetness of the mango. Lemon or orange juice would work equally well; I happen to like lime/mango combinations.

The resulting gelato is very creamy with a bold, natural, fruity flavor. I didn’t quite feel like I was biting into a ripe mango, as I have felt after eating some top-notch artisanal gelatos, but the flavor was outstanding and head-and-shoulders above most I have tried. I also enjoyed the hint of lime in the mixture. When I work with this recipe in the future, however, I think that I will try some variations, substituting out part of the mango pulp for peaches or berries to get a different take on this.

My final note is that it’s pretty important to have an ice cream maker of some kind to make this recipe. You can pour your chilled mango mixture into a freezer container and stir it around with a fork to break up the ice crystals and freeze it into a scoopable treat over a period of a few hours this way, but you won’t get the same creamy texture that the churning of a machine - electrical or manual - can give you.

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 I have always been a fan of cookies n’ cream ice cream, where chunks of chocolate, oreo-type cookies are blended into a creamy base. When I have a couple extra cookies on hand and a batch of ice cream or frozen yogurt that needs spicing up, I’ll often chop them up and throw them into the mix. This time I was making a batch of vanilla pudding pops and decided to see how I could incorporate the same technique.

I don’t recall ever seeing a cookies n’ cream popsicle in the freezer section of the grocery store, so when I began I didn’t have a reference as to how the cookies should be suspended in the pudding. I wanted to keep the cookies in fairly large chunks and immediately ruled out trying to stir them into the pudding as it cooked.

I ended up crumbling one cookie into the base of each popsicle mold. As the warm pudding was poured in, the cookie pieces swirled around and evenly distributed themselves in the popsicle, creating a more perfect pop than I could have hoped for. The result was delicious and addictive.

I included corn syrup in the recipe because it helps the pudding pops maintain a nice, smooth texture when frozen, cutting down on the formation of ice crystals that plague homemade popsicles. That said, the pudding pops will still be quite smooth if you don’t use the corn syrup, so it’s not a big deal if you prefer not to use it in your version.

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They might not have the most exciting name and they certainly aren’t going to be found on the dessert menus at any gourmet restaurants, but Crunchy Banana Pops are a fantastic summertime treat. These pops are made with frozen bananas that are coated in honey and rolled in puffed rice (a.k.a. Rice Krispies). The original recipe came from one of the first cookbooks I ever had and was in instant hit because it was something that I could make all by myself. In fact, this is a perfect recipe for kids or those who are looking for an extremely simple, but cool, snack.

Frozen bananas may not sound like much of a treat when you think about rich ice creams and decadent gelatos, but as they defrost them become just about as creamy as either - and significantly healthier for you. The honey is poured onto the frozen bananas and solidifies quickly, leaving a sweet and sticky, but not runny, outer coat. The puffed rice adds enough crunch to contrast perfectly with the creamy banana, making the treat perfectly balanced - although a drizzle of melted chocolate isn’t necessarily a bad idea either.

Start with ripe, but not overripe, bananas and plan at least an hour in advance so they have time to freeze. Once assembled, the banana pops can be eaten right away or put back into the freezer for storage for several days.

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