Elsa Petersen-Schepelern's 5 summer smoothies

Elsa PetersenElsa Petersen-Schepelern is a Danish-Australian food writer based in London. She began her working life as a publicist for movie stars, best-selling novelists, sportsmen and comedians, as well as top chefs, before taking up the pen and the pans on her own account. Based in London, Elsa now spends much of her time sampling food and wine around the world. She draws on an eclectic mix of cuisines as the inspiration for her delicious recipes. Elsa’s first book on Smoothies and other Blended Drinks was an international bestseller.

Smoothies and ShakesSmoothies are a fun, delicious and easy way to get a healthy boost, especially during the summer months. In her new book, Smoothies and Shakes, Elsa has come up with 30 new recipes for blended drinks and ices – some of them almost a meal in themselves. They’re also great for kids, so if you’ve got long summer holidays coming up, then you could do worse than spend some time in the kitchen making smoothies together. Give your helpers the chance to choose the ingredients (you can vary the fruit you use in all these recipes) and, depending on the recipe you choose, you’ll be sneaking in almost their daily quota of fruit while you’re at it.

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small.

Recipes

Strawberry Smoothie with Lime Juice and Mint
A marvellous way to be absolutely self-indulgent. One punnet of strawberries should last you two days – or one day if you’re being generous and making a smoothie for someone else. The rule with strawberries is to wash them before hulling (removing the green frill and stalk) – otherwise they fill with water and you get a more watery strawberry.

Serves 1

about 6 large ripe strawberries (half a punnet)
4-6 ice cubes
juice of 1 lime
6 mint leaves, plus 1 sprig to serve
honey or sugar, to taste (optional)

  1. Put the ice cubes in a blender and work to a snow. Add the strawberries and blend until smooth.
  2. Add the lime juice, mint and sugar or honey, if using. Blend again and serve, topped with a sprig of mint.

Source: Smoothies and Shakes by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small. To order your copy for the special price of £6.99 including postage and packing (rrp £8.99), telephone Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 571.

Frozen Watermelon, Ginger and Lime
Watermelon makes a delicious drink and it is terrific with hot, spicy partners like chilli and ginger – I use the lime zest and juice to point up the flavour. I find I don’t need any extra sugar.

Serves 4

1 ripe, round watermelon, halved and deseeded
5cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes
sugar, to taste (optional)
ice cubes, to serve

  1. Put the flesh of ½ the watermelon in a blender, add the ginger and lime juice and blend until smooth, adding water if necessary.
  2. Taste, stir in sugar if using, pour into ice cube trays and freeze.
  3. When ready to serve, put the remaining watermelon in the blender and blend until smooth. Put the ice cubes in 4 glasses, top with watermelon juice and serve.

Source: Smoothies and Shakes by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small. To order your copy for the special price of £6.99 including postage and packing (rrp £8.99), telephone Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 571.

Blueberry Ice-cream Smoothie
I love the ashes-of-roses blue-pink colour of pureed blueberries. Somehow, I always think of them as a great match for chocolate, especially chocolate ice cream (always providing, of course, that I don’t eat them long before they even get to the blender!).

Serves 1

1 punnet blueberries, about 200g, chilled
2 scoops ice-cream, chocolate or vanilla
low-fat milk, chilled

  1. Reserve a few blueberries to serve, then put the remainder into a blender.
  2. Add 1 scoop chocolate ice-cream and 125ml milk, or enough to make the blades run. Blend to a purée, then add extra milk to taste (the less you add, the thicker the smoothie will be).
  3. Pour the mixture into a glass and top with the reserved blueberries.

Source: Smoothies and Shakes by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small. To order your copy for the special price of £6.99 including postage and packing (rrp £8.99), telephone Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 571.

Mocha Frappé
Dark chocolate ice-cream and grated bitter chocolate make a marvellous mocha. If you don’t have any bitter chocolate, use cocoa powder instead – it’s also good, though not quite as sumptuous.

Serves 1

250ml strong black espresso coffee, cooled
125ml ice-cold milk, or to taste
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder or grated dark chocolate, plus extra to serve
3 scoops dark chocolate ice-cream

  1. Freeze the coffee in ice cube trays.
  2. When ready to serve, put the cubes in a blender, add the milk and cocoa powder or grated chocolate and blend to a froth.
  3. Put 2 scoops chocolate ice cream into a glass, pour over the iced coffee, top with a second scoop of ice cream and sprinkle with grated dark chocolate.

Source: Smoothies and Shakes by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small. To order your copy for the special price of £6.99 including postage and packing (rrp £8.99), telephone Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 571.

Mango and Ginger Lassi with Low-fat Yoghurt
Whenever I make smoothies, this recipe is always the most popular. Use very ripe fresh mangoes if available, otherwise canned mango pieces are often very good indeed. I use a variety called Alphonso, from India – regarded among aficionados as the finest mango in the world.

Serves 4

250ml mango purée, fresh or canned
6 ice cubes
3cm fresh ginger, grated
250ml low-fat yoghurt
mineral water, ginger ale or semi-skimmed milk
sugar or honey (optional)
4 tbsp diced fresh mango, to serve (optional)

  1. Put all the ingredients except the diced mango in a blender and work to a froth.
  2. Serve immediately, topped with the diced mango, if using.

Source: Smoothies and Shakes by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Smoothies and Shakes is published by Ryland Peters & Small. To order your copy for the special price of £6.99 including postage and packing (rrp £8.99), telephone Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 571.