Donvier Ice Cream Maker
(Photo, right, from Cooking.com (1))
- See also: 1. Puddings & Frozen Desserts Menu;
- Includes: 1. Frozen Vanilla Yogurt; 2. Frozen Orange-Scented Yogurt
When I first published this post on my old site, frozen yogurt was a fairly new phenomenon in American culture, typically available from a soft-serve ice cream machine, and heavily laden with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. Truly not a healthful treat.
You will get a much more healthful treat if you make it at home in your ice cream freezer with plain, unsweetened yogurt or Greek yogurt (especially homemade), a bit of honey and stevia, and added fruit or natural extracts to vary the flavor.
Most recipes on the internet use gelatin, which probably helps with a soft consistency. Those that do not use gelatin call for strained yogurt (which is how Greek yogurt is made); straining removes the tart watery whey which would otherwise freeze into separate ice crystals, and allows the yogurt to sweeten up a bit.
One recipe calls for agave nectar, which is far sweeter than sugar or honey, so much less can be used. However, the jury is still out, as to whether this is a healthful sweetener, so I avoid it and use honey instead.
Frozen Vanilla Yogurt
This recipe is adapted from a 101 Cookbooks (2) recipe for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. The original calls for Greek-style yogurt, which is strained yogurt lightly sweetened with honey. I prefer to use plain yogurt and strain it myself.
Makes about 1 quart. As with vanilla ice cream, you can modify this recipe by adding 1 cup pureed fruit to create different flavors (decrease yogurt to 2 cups). Or you can add a bit of cocoa or ground nuts.
I’ve revised the original version to use strained (Greek-style) yogurt, as I think it provides better flavor. If you use regular, unstrained yogurt: stir 1 tsp unsweetened gelatin stir into ¼ cup milk or fruit juice and warm over low heat, stirring, until gelatin dissolves. Do not overheat. Cool to room temperature before adding to the yogurt mixture with the sweetener.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- 3 cups homemade plain, unsweetened yogurt, strained, or commercial plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt
- ⅔ – ¾ cup Rapadura or white sugar (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 2 Tbsp raw local honey)
- 1 tsp natural vanilla extract (or other extract such as almond or maple, for a different flavor)
- pinch Unrefined sea salt
- Equipment:
- yogurt strainer (or regular strainer lined with real cheesecloth or muslin)
- saucepan
- blender
- wooden spoon
- ice cream freezer
- ice and rock salt (if using old-fashioned freezer)
Method:
- Place yogurt in yogurt strainer and set over bowl to collect the whey. Cover and chill in refrigerator at least 8 hours. (Save whey for another use). See Strained Yogurt & Liquid Whey. Note: if you strain the yogurt at room temperature, you will get a type of cream cheese; when you strain it in the fridge, you get thickened yogurt similar to Greek yogurt.
- Scoop strained yogurt into blender. Add sugar (or stevia & honey), vanilla extract and pinch of salt; process until smooth.
- Freeze in a 1.5 – 2-quart ice cream freezer, according to manufacturer’s directions. See also Ice Cream Basics: Freezing the Cream for more detail.
- For ease of serving, pack in an empty yogurt container with lid, let ripen for 3 hours in freezer before serving. Store in freezer.
Frozen Orange-Scented Yogurt
This is a modification of the frozen vanilla yogurt recipe, adapted from Mighty Foods (3) recipe for Agave Frozen Yogurt. The original calls for Greek-style yogurt with honey. You can make your own by straining regular plain yogurt, and sweeten the frozen yogurt with honey.
If you use regular, unstrained yogurt: stir 1 tsp unsweetened gelatin stir into the ⅓ cup orange juice, and warm over low heat, stirring, until gelatin dissolves. Do not overheat. Cool to room temperature before adding to the yogurt mixture with the sweetener.
Makes about 1 quart.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- 3 cups plain, unsweetened yogurt, strained, or 3 cups Greek-style yogurt
- 1 Organic orange (for all the zest and ⅓ cup juice)
- ½ – ¾ cup Rapadura or white sugar (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 2 Tbsp raw local honey) *
- pinch Unrefined sea salt
- Equipment:
- yogurt strainer (or regular strainer lined with real cheesecloth or muslin)
- saucepan
- blender
- wooden spoon
- ice cream freezer
- ice and rock salt (if using old-fashioned freezer)
* the original recipe uses ⅓ cup agave nectar instead of sugar or stevia & honey; agave nectar is much sweeter than sugar, which is why it takes less.
Method:
- Place yogurt in yogurt strainer and set over bowl to collect the whey. Cover and chill in refrigerator at least 8 hours. (Save whey for another use). See Strained Yogurt & Liquid Whey. Note: if you strain the yogurt at room temperature, you will get a type of cream cheese; when you strain it in the fridge, you get thickened yogurt similar to Greek yogurt.
- Grate zest from orange; set aside. Squeeze ⅓ cup juice from the orange.
- Scoop strained yogurt into blender. Add sweetener(s), zest, juice, and pinch of salt and process until smooth.
- Freeze in a 1.5 – 2-quart ice cream freezer, according to manufacturer’s directions. See also Ice Cream Basics: Freezing the Cream for more detail.
- For ease of serving, pack in an empty yogurt container with lid, let ripen for 3 hours in freezer before serving. Store in freezer.
Testing 8/3/08: Made as written with stevia & honey; strained yogurt in fridge 4 hours; did not use gelatin. Oops, used all the juice from the orange (3/4 cup) instead of just 1/3 cup. A little too sweet, but very creamy and orangey.
References:
- Cooking.com photo (cooking.com/1-qt-premier-ice-cream-maker-by-donvier_115016_11)
- 101 Cookbooks Frozen Vanilla Yogurt recipe (101cookbooks.com/archives/a-frozen-yogurt-recipe-to-rival-pinkberrys-recipe.html
- Mighty Foods Agave Frozen Yogurt Recipe (mightyfoods.com/archives/2008/02/agave-frozen-yogurt-recipe.html) 2/2015 NOTE: mightyfoods.com now goes to 101 Cookbooks and I have not found this recipe on that website)
