What’s more refreshing than a frozen drink? If you’re looking for a delicious, healthy snack your kids will love, then a smoothie is a great choice. Or if you want to serve cooling refreshments to your summer guests, then a frozen drink is a real party pleaser. But there’s more to it than just tossing ingredients into a blender. Follow these secrets to making the perfect fruit smoothie or frozen drink and you’ll become an expert!
1. Freeze the fruit ahead of time. It doesn’t matter whether your smoothie recipe tells you to do this or not, this little trick will make for a thicker smoothie. Wash your fruit, cut in bite size pieces (slice bananas), spread out on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze. When your fruit is frozen, you can pack it together in a storage bag or container in the freezer. For best results, use within 2 weeks.
2. Use fresh ripe fruit for the best flavor.
3. When the recipe calls for ice, crushed ice is best. If you don’t have crushed ice, you can always place ice cubes in a sealable plastic bag on a cutting board and “crush” the cubes with a hammer, rolling pin, frying pan, etc.
4. The blending order is important. First add the cold liquid, then the fruit, and last add the frozen yogurt (or ice cream) or the ice.
5. Considering using a Smoothie Maker. They really work! Unless you have a powerful blender, it will labor when pulverizing ice.
How to Fix a Less Than Perfect Recipe:
Making smoothies and frozen drinks is not an exact science. You can start with a recipe and always change and improve it. Here are some basic tips to adapt any smoothie recipe to your own tastes and requirements.
To make it thicker:
Add more ice, frozen fruit (especially a banana), frozen yogurt, ice cream or sherbet
If it’s too thick:
Add milk, water, or juice and blend again. Be careful when adding a lot of juice, because it will change the flavor of the frozen drink.
To make it creamier:
Use ice cream, frozen yogurt or vanilla yogurt instead of the ice.
To reduce calories:
Replace whole milk with skim milk. Use frozen yogurt or sorbet instead of ice cream. Add fresh fruit instead of sweetened frozen fruit. Use a sugar substitute. Choose nonfat yogurt over regular yogurt.
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