One of the most popular fruits of the summer is cherry, which is super-healthy when eaten raw. It’s very easy to make ice cream or lollipops from it. Here are two cherry ice recipes with some variations.

Simple cherry ice-lolly

Ingredients:4 cup pitted cherries, half a cup of water, 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 Tbsp honey or agave nectar Preparation:put all ingredients in a blender, whizz, then push through a sieve if you don’t like bits. Spoon the pulp into ice cream moulds, then freeze.

Variations

Lemonade:blend together 1 cup pitted cherries and one and half a cup of lemonade.How to make homemade lemonade Apple: instead of water add 1 cup of apple juice. Lime:use lime instead of lemon juice to make it more edgy & interesting! Balsamic vinegar: make it taste even more special by using balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice! Boozy:for adults only, add 1-2 spoonfuls of Amaretto or Cherry brandy to the recipe. Chocolate: mix the cherry purée with a half cup of melted chocolate creating a marble effect then spoon the mixture into the moulds. Alternatively dip the frozen cherry lollies into melted chocolate (halfway) and put them back in the freezer for 15 minutes!

Cherry frozen yogurt

Ingredients:100ml Greek yoghurt, 1 Tbsp honey or agave nectar, a few pitted cherries, 3 Tbsp cherry purée Preparation: blend about a handful of stoned cherries, then filter the pulp through a sieve. Mix the yoghurt with honey then add the purée. Fill the moulds with the purée, then push a few stoned and chopped cherries into each. Freeze.
• Only thick, creamy yoghurt is suitable for this recipe!
• You can add grated zest of half a lemon to the recipe.

Tips

• Chill the cherries first, so freezing the ice-lollies will take less time. You can use frozen cherries too.
• You can combine cherries a with other berries – such as sour cherries, blueberries, blackberries. Watermelon goes well with cherries too –  so why not make layered lollies?
• Home-made cherry ice lollies are lovely treats during the summer – they are healthy too, so you can have them in most diet and without any guilt! Read more about thehealth benefits of cherries