Warm Strawberry Salad with Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients

Frozen Yogurt:

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 1/4 cups simple syrup (see Cook's Note)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, split

Strawberry salad:

• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 16 large strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
• 1 (2-inch) piece honeycomb, optional
• Equipment: 1-quart paper milk container, thoroughly cleaned with the top cut off; 4 (6-inch) ovenproof, shallow appetizer plates

Directions

Make the Frozen Yogurt: In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, simple syrup, and vanilla. Chill 30 minutes; then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Cram the frozen yogurt into the milk container, packing it well to get rid of all the air pockets. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

Make the Strawberry Salad: puree the raspberries and sugar in a blender. Strain out the seeds and taste the puree for sweetness, adding more sugar if necessary. Divide the puree on among the plates, spreading evenly to coat the bottom of each plate. Using 4 berries per plate, carefully fan them on top of each plate, starting at the edge and spiraling in to the center. (It can be made up to this point up to 8 hours in advance. Just tightly cover each plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Bake the strawberries until just warm, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, microwave them for 1 minute.

Take the frozen yogurt out of the freezer and lay it on its side. With a serrated knife, leaving the frozen yogurt in its container, cut a 1 1/2-inch think slice off the end. Remove the container band around the slice. Cut the slice on the diagonal into 4 triangles. Place a triangle of frozen yogurt in the center of each plate (it will start to melt immediately). Cut the honeycomb, if using, into 4 pieces and place on top of the frozen yogurt. Serve immediately.

Cook's Note: If you have simple syrup on hand, this is such a fast dessert. To make the simple syrup, bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil; then let it cool before using.