.: evil jungle prince :.

When my friend so kindly gave me a bunch of her Hibiscus sabdariffa (Roselle) seeds, I must admit I planted them and promptly forgot about them. But as the plant matured and produced unusual, bulbous, deep-red calyces, I dove into the culture of the plant and learned that I had actually consumed it before in the form of Mexican jamaica -- a type of agua fresca. I love this drink and looked forward to making my own refreshing drink by boiling the succulent calyces myself.

I started my experiment by boiling a handful of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces in hot water, mixing in about 1/4 cup sugar for about 10 mins. I then placed this mixture into the refrigerator to cool down. This alone makes a nice tea which can be enjoyed over ice.

I used a little bit of the tea and mixed it together with ginger ale, which created yet another fun drink. Hibiscus-infused ginger ale tasted zesty and sweet with just a hint of bitter which was immediately appealing. I plan on making it again.

I then went on to think how unique hibiscus frozen yogurt might taste. Armed with my new ice cream maker, I made my first batch by doing the following:

1. First I boiled down my Hibiscus tea until it was a syrupy liquid (about 1/4 cup of liquid). I let this cool completely to room temperature.

2. Next I fired up the ice cream maker and mixed 16 oz of Greek yogurt, the Hibiscus syrup, 1/4 cup of additional sugar (for total of 1/2 cup), and a dash of vanilla extract. I allowed to churn until very firm and then placed into the freezer to harden.

The result? My best frozen yogurt to date. The sour pungency of the yogurt worked perfectly with the sweet but slightly bitter Hibiscus syrup, mellowed by the aromatic vanilla essence. Ahhhhhhh, this recipe was a success and I'll be making it again.