Anyway, after Linda inspired me to make more frozen treats and I kicked things off with the Five-Minute (Healthy) Chunky Monkey "Ice Cream", I decided I should also try my hand at frozen yogurt. I found a basic recipe from the ice cream guru David Lebowitz and then went from there. I love fruit flavors and wanted to capture that same tartness that Yagoot is famous for so in went some strawberries, peaches, and my "secret ingredient" for tartness - lemon juice.
Because I knew that adding fruit could result in icy, rock solid froyo, I also added some vodka to help lower the freezing temperature. It worked...for maybe the first day. After that, all bets were off and I still got a frozen rock which I waited (impatiently) to soften so I could enjoy the deliciousness that tasted just like my favorite Strawberry Yagoot at a fraction of the cost. The way I see it, I made a quart (32 oz) of mock-Yagoot froyo for roughly $7 whereas a 1/2 cup small serving (4 oz) at the store would run me $2.50 or $20 for equivalent total ounces. Yah for huge cost savings!
This froyo is best eaten freshly churned (so it's like soft serve) or within the same day of churning (so it's still soft and scoopable...for me this was the literal sweet spot). Of course, if you have a bit of patience, you can wait for the frozen rock to thaw and serve.
Any tips for churning a froyo that stays SOFT over time? I'd love to hear them!
Strawberry Peach Frozen Yogurt
Yields: About 1 quart (32 oz) of frozen yogurt
Ingredients
- 2/3 pint fresh strawberries, chopped
- 2 medium peaches, pitted and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoon vodka
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 cups Greek-style yogurt (update: Apparently whole milk is best because it has less water which will prevent rock-hard froyo!)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In small mixing bowl, mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
- In a separate bowl, combined chopped strawberries, peaches, sugar, vodka and lemon juice. Mix together well, cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Place the yogurt mixture in your ice cream maker and churn per the manufacturer directions. After about 15 minutes, add the fruit mixture. Serve immediately to enjoy soft-serve style frozen yogurt. If desired, pour the mixture into an airtight container and freeze until ready to use. Fair warning, it gets pretty hard after about 24 hours so you'll need to let it defrost before it's remotely scoopable again!
Hmm, you'd think the vodka would do the trick since you aren't really adding alot of water-based ingredients. How is the sweetness? You could try adding more sugar or even simple syrup.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Orange Leaf yet? I heard the one in West Chester is open (Mason coming soon!) so I may pack the kids up and head over tonight.
@Brenda - I thought the vodka would work too but it only slowed the process of hard freezing :(. I think there was enough water content in the fruit to do it in because the plain greek yogurt (with lower water content than regular) doesn't have that problem.
ReplyDeleteI like the level of sweetness. Before churning it was way too sweet but once frozen it seemed perfect.
Have not tried Orange Leaf but sounds yummy!