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CHAPTER 1

PART ONE

Introduction to Frozen Yogurt

As a kid on hot summer days in Southern California, I always looked forward to enjoying a cool treat after a long day at school. Sometimes I had an ice-cold soda or a smoothie, but the treat I loved most was frozen yogurt.

When frozen yogurt first became popular, it was a soft-serve substitute for ice cream. It was sweet and creamy, but it came in very few identifiable flavors and its main selling point was that it was a lower-fat, more healthful alternative to traditional ice cream. It was hugely popular when it became available in the early 1980s, but growth in the frozen yogurt market slowed after a few years because the yogurt itself was bland and more compelling as a vehicle for toppings like shredded coconut, yogurt chips, and rainbow sprinkles than as a unique treat.

Plain yogurt has a tart, tangy flavor that comes from the natural cultures that are used to turn ordinary milk into what we know as yogurt. Yogurt wasn't very popular when frozen yogurt was first introduced, except among the very health conscious, but as better-tasting, thicker yogurts grew in popularity, frozen yogurt also started to change — and to taste like yogurt. That signature yogurt tang became a hallmark of high-quality frozen yogurts made with premium ingredients. This new style of frozen yogurt launched a yogurt revolution, and it is now more popular than ever before.

The recipes that follow show you how to make frozen desserts at home with the tangy, fresh flavor of premium frozen yogurts.

How to Make Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt is a dessert made with yogurt as its base, but there is a big difference between yogurt that has been frozen and frozen yogurt. Yogurt that has been frozen is grainy and icy. It shatters instead of scooping and does not blend well with added ingredients.

Frozen yogurt should be creamy and smooth, and — like ice cream — it should be something that you can store in your freezer and scoop when you want to eat some. It's easy to make at home, and making your own frozen yogurt gives you complete control of the ingredients and flavors that will go into your desserts.

Frozen yogurt does present some challenges that ice cream does not.

Yogurt doesn't freeze well on its own because a major component of yogurt is whey, the watery part of milk. Whey freezes solid, just like water. So what happens when you freeze plain yogurt is it develops icy crystals and loses its texture — and the same thing can happen to homemade frozen yogurt. You end up with something that's a far cry from the creamy, smooth texture that you want in a frozen dessert.

Commercially made frozen yogurts often have stabilizers added to enhance their texture, and commercial machines can infuse enough extra air into the base to keep the frozen yogurt soft. Home ice cream makers aren't as powerful as commercial machines, but there are a few things you can do to ensure that your frozen yogurt tastes delicious and stays scoopable even after sitting in the freezer for a few days.

The first trick is to minimize the amount of whey in your frozen yogurt base by using thick, Greek-style yogurt, which already has a lot of the whey strained out of it. This thicker yogurt will be less likely to form large ice crystals when frozen. The second trick is to use full-fat yogurt and dairy, since the little bit of extra fat will help give your frozen yogurt additional creaminess. The small amount of fat will also help prevent the yogurt from freezing too hard. Finally, the most important thing you can do to achieve a pleasing, scoopable texture is to infuse extra air into your yogurt mixture before churning. I call this the Meringue Method, because I use an easy-to-make meringue to aerate the base and help ensure a deliciously smooth finished product every time.

The Meringue Method

The Meringue Method for making frozen yogurt involves using a cooked meringue, also known as an Italian meringue, to incorporate extra air into the frozen yogurt base before the churning phase. Meringue is a mixture of egg whites and sugar that is beaten until stiff and foamy. Most meringues are made with raw eggs and then incorporated into recipes that call for cooking the meringue before serving. The Italian meringue uses a different technique to produce meringue that is completely cooked and safe to eat without any additional cooking or baking; it is an ideal addition to frozen yogurt. The meringue is very easy to make and makes a big difference in the creaminess of the finished yogurt.

To make a cooked meringue, you first beat room temperature egg whites until they're foamy. Then you slowly stream boiling sugar into the egg whites while beating them until soft peaks form. The egg whites in the finished meringue are completely cooked; you can fold them into any yogurt mixture without additional cooking.

Another advantage of the Meringue Method is that the melted sweetener for the recipe is easily incorporated into the yogurt. Many recipes call for long periods of strong stirring to dissolve granulated sugar into the yogurt. So, though it may seem complicated at first, it takes only a few minutes to make the meringue, and the results are well worth the effort.

1. Beat egg whites to soft peaks.

2. Pour boiled sugar into egg whites.

3. Beat to a glossy, finished meringue.

4. Fold meringue into yogurt mixture.

Making Frozen Yogurt with an Ice Cream Maker

Most of the recipes in this book call for using an ice cream maker to churn your frozen yogurt base into actual frozen yogurt. There is a wide variety of ice cream makers on the market. They come in many sizes and in a range of prices, so you are sure to find something that will suit your needs. An ice cream maker will give you the best results and allow you to make frozen yogurt much more quickly than doing it by hand.

The purpose of an ice cream maker is to chill an ice cream or frozen yogurt base mixture quickly while adding air to it. Rapid chilling reduces the number and size of ice crystals in the finished product, so it will be smooth and creamy. Adding air to the mixture softens it, making it easy to scoop when frozen. That added air also makes frozen desserts taste better, since slight aeration allows the frozen mixture to melt smoothly and evenly on your tongue.

The Three Main Types

The Hand Churn Ice Cream Maker is the most basic kind. With this type of gadget, you add your own ice and salt to one chamber and your ice cream or frozen yogurt base to the other, and then you shake or stir while the base thickens up. This maker is very inexpensive and produces softer ice creams, but it works and it gives you a real workout as you churn up each batch.

The Canister Ice Cream Maker is the most common type. This model has a thick-walled canister: you freeze it in advance, and then you simply pour your base into the frozen canister and churn away. Some canister models require you to hand churn your ice cream or frozen yogurt, but most are small electric appliances that will do the work for you. Some stand mixers even offer canister attachments that will temporarily turn the mixer into an ice cream maker. The only drawback with this appliance is that you have to do some advance planning, making sure to put the canister in the freezer about 24 hours before you want to make your frozen yogurt.

The Compressor Ice Cream Maker is the most expensive type. The internal compressor starts to freeze your base as soon as you turn the appliance on. You don't have to prefreeze anything, and you don't even need to chill your dessert base before adding it to the machine, although doing so speeds up the freezing process. The advantage of this type of ice cream maker is that the machine is always ready to go and is capable of making multiple batches, one right after another, with no waiting time. This sort of pricey machine may not suit the occasional ice cream maker, but if you love to make ice cream or find that you are often serving a crowd, you can get a lot of use out of one of these.

Making Frozen Yogurt without an Ice Cream Maker

Ice cream makers turn the process of creating frozen yogurt into a job that's quick and easy, but it is possible to make frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker. To do this, simply make the yogurt base of your choice and pour it into a large baking dish. Place the baking dish in the freezer and come back and give the mixture a thorough stir with a fork after 15 to 20 minutes. This breaks up any large ice crystals that may have formed during the freezing. Check back every 15 to 20 minutes and repeat the stirring process until the base has become thick and is mostly frozen. At this point, you can stir in any flavorings the recipe calls for and then serve your frozen yogurt or transfer it to another container for longer storage.

Frozen yogurt made without an ice cream maker will still have great flavor, but it may have some chunks of ice in it that batches made in an ice cream maker won't have. It might also freeze harder if you store it long term and require some extra defrosting time before you can scoop and serve it.

FAQs

Q: What is Greek-style yogurt?

A: Greek-style yogurt is plain yogurt that has been strained to remove excess whey, resulting in a yogurt that is much thicker and creamier in consistency than ordinary yogurt. Authentic Greek-style yogurt does not get its texture from the addition of gelatin or stabilizers. Greek-style yogurt is available in many flavors, but the distinctive tangy flavor of plain is best for making flavorful frozen yogurt.

You can easily turn ordinary yogurt into Greek-style yogurt by straining it through a very fine sieve or cheesecloth for a few hours to remove most of the whey.

Q: Do I need to use Greek-style yogurt?

A: The excess whey — the watery part of milk — that is in regular yogurt will turn to ice when you use it in frozen yogurt. The frozen yogurt will still taste good straight out of the ice cream maker, but it will be a harder and icier frozen yogurt than one made with Greek-style yogurt.

Q: What brand of yogurt should I use?

A: You can use any brand of yogurt; choose one that you like. You can even use homemade yogurt. Since you'll be adding flavorings and sweeteners, you should choose plain yogurt, not flavored yogurt, for these recipes.

Q: Can I use nonfat or low-fat yogurt?

A: Yes, both nonfat and low-fat yogurt will turn out very tasty frozen yogurts and can be used in any of the recipes in this book. Full-fat yogurt will produce a creamier, richer-tasting product, which is why I recommend it for most frozen yogurts.

Q: Can I reduce the sugar?

A: You can reduce the sugar, but your results will not be the same as with the original recipe. The frozen yogurt may be too hard and icy or may taste too tart if you reduce the sugar. Sugar has two important functions in frozen yogurt recipes. It helps the frozen yogurt to remain creamy and smooth, rather than icy, and it also ensures just the right amount of sweetness in the finished dessert. The base for frozen yogurt will taste sweeter before it has been frozen, and you may find that your finished product is not sweet enough if you reduce the sugar in the initial recipe, even though the unfrozen base seems sweet.

Q: Does the Meringue Method really cook the egg whites?

A: Yes, the boiling sugar is hot enough to cook the egg whites and make them completely safe to eat.

Q: Can I use processed egg whites instead of from separated eggs?

A: Processed egg whites are not ideal for making meringues. Though these egg whites are convenient, the pasteurization process toughens some of the proteins in the eggs and prevents the whites from whipping up into fluffy meringues. It could take up to twice as long to beat processed egg whites to soft peaks, and they won't be as fluffy as fresh egg whites will be.

Q: Do I need an ice cream maker?

A: I've included instructions for making frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker, but you will generally get better results using an ice cream maker. An ice cream maker speeds up the freezing process and reduces the number of large ice crystals, resulting in a creamier finished product.

Q: Can I eat my frozen yogurt straight out of the ice cream maker?

A: Yes, you can eat it as soon as it is done churning. It will have a soft-serve consistency as this stage; after a couple of hours in the freezer, it will set up completely.

Q: Does the frozen yogurt need to soften before scooping?

A: Like many premium ice creams, frozen yogurt will need a few minutes to soften before scooping if you want to get a big, perfect scoop. Freezer temperatures vary, but you can expect to be able to scoop it after a few minutes at room temperature. If you are storing your frozen yogurt in a very deep container, it may need a few extra minutes. Running your ice cream scoop under hot water before scooping will help it to slide through your frozen yogurt more easily.

How to Make Your Own Yogurt

Great frozen yogurt starts with delicious yogurt, so you should always choose a brand whose flavor you like. Alternatively, you can make your own yogurt and use it as a base for your frozen yogurt creations.

Yogurt is easy to make at home and yogurt fans might find that they like their homemade version better than anything available at the grocery store. You need to start with some bacteria to get the yogurt process going. You can either purchase yogurt cultures from a specialty catalog or use a small amount of a favorite brand of yogurt that contains live, active Lactobacillus acidophilus cultures, the bacteria that turn milk into yogurt. If you are going to use store-bought yogurt as a starter, read the label carefully to ensure that it contains live cultures, or your homemade yogurt will not thicken up properly. The best yogurts to use will have very short ingredient lists and will not include stabilizers or thickeners, such as gelatin or cornstarch. Once you have made a batch of your own yogurt, you can reserve a small portion of it to act as a starter for your next batch.

Yogurt cultures are temperature sensitive, so you will want to use an instant-read thermometer when you're making yogurt. You may also want to invest in a yogurt maker, which makes the process just about foolproof and also allows you to easily portion your yogurt into small containers for serving. If you decide you want to make your own yogurt on a regular basis, a yogurt maker is a great investment that you will repay you for a long time to come.

Nevertheless, even without a yogurt maker, you can make yogurt at home — you'll just need to keep a closer eye on your mixture as it develops to make sure it stays in a good temperature range for the cultures.

Plain Yogurt

Makes about 4 cups

INGREDIENTS

* 4 cups (1 quart) whole milk

• ¼ cup plain yogurt with live, active yogurt cultures, at room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring the milk to a simmer in a large saucepan.

2. Remove the pan from the heat just before the milk boils. Cool the milk to 110°F, using a thermometer to check the temperature.

3. Place the yogurt in a small bowl. When the milk has cooled to 110°F, add about 1 cup of the milk to the yogurt and whisk until the yogurt is completely incorporated. Pour the yogurt mixture back into the milk and whisk to combine.

If using a yogurt maker: Divide the milk mixture into the containers of your yogurt maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. Yogurt should be refrigerated after processing.

If not using a yogurt maker: Transfer the milk mixture to a large, clean jar or container with an airtight lid and close the lid tightly.

Place the jar in a very warm place and allow the yogurt to thicken undisturbed for about 10 hours. Ideally, the jar should be maintained at approximately 110 to 115°F as the yogurt thickens. High shelves in warm rooms are good locations, and you can also create a warm environment for your yogurt by setting your oven to "warm." Check your warm place with a thermometer to see that it is in the right temperature range before you place your jar there. If you're using your oven, you may find when you do your temperature check that cracking the door slightly results in the right temperature range.

Greek-Style Yogurt

Makes about 3 cups

Greek-style yogurt can easily be made at home by straining some of the excess whey from a batch of plain yogurt. You can strain store-bought plain yogurt or homemade yogurt, and both will give you a wonderfully thick product to serve as the base of your frozen yogurts. You can use whole-milk, low-fat, or nonfat yogurt for this process. Different brands have different consistencies, so the draining time may vary slightly from batch to batch. Choose a high-quality yogurt that doesn't have additives or stabilizers in it.

You will need a very fine strainer to drain the whey without losing any of the yogurt. A strainer lined with cheesecloth is ideal because you can handle any quantity of yogurt, but the coffee filters that fit in your home coffeemaker (2- to 6-cup size) work well if you don't mind working in batches. You can use a very fine unlined strainer if you don't have either cheesecloth or coffee filters on hand.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 cups (1 quart) plain yogurt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line a large strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth, making sure that some of the cloth hangs over the sides of the strainer.

2. Place the strainer over a large bowl and fill with yogurt. Cover yogurt with extra cheesecloth and squeeze gently. Allow to sit for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature or up to 12 hours in the refrigerator. Excess whey will drain into the bowl.

3. When the yogurt remaining in the strainer is thick and creamy, transfer it to another container for storage in the refrigerator or use in frozen yogurt recipes. Discard the excess whey.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "How to Make Frozen Yogurt"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Nicole Weston.
Excerpted by permission of Storey Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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