Frozen Yoghurt

Frozen Yoghurt

Obsessing over food has become my new obsession. I am hooked into this fantastic blog that I only recently discovered (oh why oh why oh why not earlier . . . ????). The discovery started with a google search for a frozen yoghurt recipe. My hubby is a big fan of it and I was looking for one which I could replicate at home. Something that was simple enough for me to give it a go and motivate me to invest in an ice-cream maker. And behold! I stumble upon the most fantastic blog called Smitten Kitchen . Now if you are someone who reads recipe book for recreational reading (hey they are short, with pretty pictures – in most cases and immensely good for the soul . . plus if you have a very active and engaging two year old at your toes, crazy traffic commute and a demanding job. . this really does make sense as a recreational reading material). Deb of Smitten Kitchen in turn introduced me to another wonderful chef David Leiboviz whose dessert recipes are to die for. It is in fact his Frozen Yoghurt recipe that I first copied and then tweaked around a bit to make it my own. This basic Frozen Yoghurt recipe is great as you can do endless stuff with it. You can flavor it by adding some essence (vanilla is always a good bet); add chocolate chips (mini ones or just bash up a bar and fold in the crumbled bits), add chopped fruits (strawberry is great . . planning to try mango when the season starts); add caramel swirls, chocolate swirls in the frozen yoghurt right after you take it out of the Ice-cream maker and spoon it in storage containers (and of course your bowl . . because you just have to have a taste to see how it turned out . . or so you tell yourself while you pile on the frozen deliciousness). The basic recipe is very very simple to make. Just make sure you do chill the mixture very well BEFORE you start churning it in your ice cream maker. It makes all the difference between creamy deliciousness and slosh. The original recipe did not add any cream. I decided it needed some extra fat to keep it soft and more ice cream like after storing in the freezer so I added that. Will post the pics soon. The first batch was gone before I had a chance to take a decent photo.

Frozen Yoghurt (Makes about .75 litres)
Adapted from David Leibovitz’s recipe

Plain Yoghurt (1 kg) (if you are using the Greek kind then I would use 500 ml, not strain it at all but if you do want to don’t do it for more than 1 hour)
White or Brown Sugar – 1/3-1/2 cup (depending on your taste)
Thick Cream – 100 ml (I used the Dano pasteurized on since that is all I could find. Basically one small can)

1. Put a muslin cloth over a strainer and pour all the yoghurt in it. Let it strain for at 4-5 hours (I did it overnight and then found it to be too thick so added some milk after adding the cream to get the right consistency). Strain in the fridge as that will cut down the time needed to chill the final mixture. Also put the can of cream in the fridge to chill while the yoghurt strains.
2. In a bowl, add the strained yoghurt, sugar and cream and using an electric beater mix well until the mixture is nice and homogenous. I didn’t add all the sugar at one go but added about ¼ cup first and then gradually added and tasted until I thought it was sweet enough.
3. Chill for about 2 hours (since you have chilled everything before hand) or if you have not then make sure it is very very well chilled (I’d assume at least 4 hours)
4. Pour it into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instruction.

Note: Yes it is THAT easy!