The title of this post should really be, "the easiest thing you will make all summer." Because it is. I have a thing for frozen yogurt, I always have. It's cold, it's tangy, it's light, and it satisfies my continual obsession with ice cream. The proliferation of frozen yogurt places in the U.S. (Sweetgreen, Yogenfruz, Pinkberry, etc) is great in my book because the frozen yogurt is tart and tangy and not overly sweet. There is one such place between my house and my yoga studio, and it taunts me every time I walk past, trudging home sweaty and tired. I have a rule limiting myself to one visit per week.
A few weeks ago I made the vanilla ice cream from David Leibovitz's ice cream book. (PS- For ice cream makers, this is the best ice cream recipe, and it even stays perfectly in the fridge for weeks without getting icy or anything, virtually unheard of in the land of homemade ice cream). Anyway, as I'm flipping though the book I alight (alighted? alot? ugh, you know what I mean) upon a recipe for tangy frozen yogurt. The recipe said stir together yogurt and sugar, process though ice cream machine.
With some amount of skepticism as to the simplicity of this endeavor, I whipped up a batch. The unfrozen mixture tasted exactly as delicious as I'd hoped it would. Surely, I thought, it couldn't be this easy? But it was, delicious, homemade frozen yogurt in literally a matter of minutes. My only qualm is that it does get rock hard and icy in the freezer after a few days, which is good news for my local frozen yogurt shop, because I'll still be keeping them in business.
P.S. Ramadan Kareem to all those observing!
Frozen Yogurt
It's optional if you want to add a splash of vanilla extract or other flavoring (Cointreau, orange flower water, almond extract, etc). I used good quality low-fat local yogurt for this. You can make a richer version by using thick Greek yogurt, but really whatever kind of yogurt you'd like, so long as it's plain, will work.
3 cups plain yogurt, cold
3/4 cup sugar
1. Stir together yogurt and sugar. Process through an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to the freezer to harden for about 1 hour. Best served fresh.
Sour Cherry Compote
1 1/2 cups pitted sour cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1. Combine in a saucepan. Boil until mixture is thick and syrupy and cherries have collapsed. Set aside to cool.
Hmmm this recipe looks so delicious and nice and i think that fits perfect with my taste and in my opinion is a very easy recipe, so i think i will try it. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe is very nice, but I agree that it does not lend itself well to storage (becomes too solid). Not a big problem if one is bent on eating it all directly, of course;-) If you would like to try something against the iciness and rock-solidity, however, test to use honey instead of sugar. It is not really enough, but I find that it does improve things a bit in the right direction. To do even more, I would guess one would have to replace some of the yoghurt with cream, and/or add a little alcohol to hamper freezing:-)
ReplyDeleteMade this this weekend with Greek yogurt. Outstanding. Especially good w/apple pie; the tartness complemented the apples, which were early-season and didn't have as much depth as I'd have liked.
ReplyDeleteVery tempting images Mercedes! The Sour cherry compote looks delicious. I've tried similarly simple yoghurt ice cream recipes this summer, but with honey as main sweetener; since honey works as an inverted sugar, it does add some more "scoopability" to the final result (alas, without fundamentally changing the fact that these ice creams do not store very well ...).
ReplyDeleteI love your blog! I came across it during a desperate search for hummus recipes. Your photos are beautiful and your posts are well written. If you ever want to ditch blogspot and create an independent blog, you should contact me. I'm currently building a web design team at Promozzi.com- and we'd love to have your blog in our portfolio. I know you'll be a hit!
ReplyDeleteman i would polish an entire batch of this in about 5 minutes. looks great, great idea.
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious! I make my own yogurt, but I haven't even whipped out my ice cream maker yet this summer- you've inspired me to break it out again! Might add a little cinnamon, which I've been enjoying with plain yogurt and fruit lately :)
ReplyDeleteMade the frozen yogurt last night. Added some home-made vanilla extract - super easy and super delish. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI want this. Right now. Unfortunately a) I don't have an ice cream machine and b) It's still winter over here. However, I now have a craving for frozen yoghurt. It looks so good!
ReplyDelete