By far my most enlightening culinary creation during these dark shut-in days is this fantastic frozen yogurt. If you have an ice cream maker, all you need is some vanilla (or any flavor) yogurt, sugar and vodka (or any other alcohol to keep it from freezing solid) and you’re good to go. This beats any frozen yogurt that I have ever had any where and it is also the shortest recipe I’ve ever written.
I am not sure why I had a quart of vanilla yogurt in my fridge, but I kept looking at it trying to decide what to do with it. I have a wonderful electric ice cream maker that I rarely use, and wondered “What if?” What if I added a little sugar to the yogurt and froze it in my machine. So I simply stirred a little sugar right into the container of yogurt and set the machine to ON.
When it was done, it was the perfect texture—--soft, creamy just like frozen yogurt from any store machine, but, oh, the taste, it was so much fresher, cleaner and tastier.
But, and this was a huge but, when I froze the remainder, it was hard as a glacier. No amount of time at room temperature would render it spoonable. The best I could do after 30 minutes was break it into chunks and eat them like popsicles.
After doing some research, I learned that granulated sugar is crucial to keeping ice cream and frozen yogurt creamy; that is because sugar inhibits the formation of ice crystals. Knowing this I upped my original 1/2 cup to 1 cup sugar, which is perfect to keep 4 cups of yogurt creamy.
The other important ingredient is alcohol, because it never freezes solid. I found 2 to 3 tablespoons to be ideal and although you can choose whatever flavor alcohol you like, I prefer vodka, because it is flavorless.
I’ve been experimenting with Greek and regular low fat yogurt and have actually had better luck with low fat (not Greek) because it doesn’t freeze as solid. I’ve tried strawberry, peach and vanilla and we love them all. Sometimes I stir in a few tablespoons of a complementary fruit spread (like strawberry or apricot) right into the yogurt when it comes out of the machine.
If you don’t have a machine, this is a great time to buy one. They come in every price range and with this recipe in hand, you will have something fun to do and exciting to eat. My ice cream maker has been going non-stop and I don’t plan to let it rest any time soon.
Four months into sheltering-in and rarely a night goes by that Karl and I don’t indulge in some of this fabulous yogurt. We call the recipe my great COVID-19 discovery.
FROZEN YOGURT
1 quart vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt, low-fat preferred
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons vodka, or any other liqueur of your choice
1 tablespoon complementary liqueur, optional (such as Chambord with strawberry, Apricot liqueur with peach)
1.Stir all the ingredients together and process as directed in your ice cream maker.
2. Serve immediately or freeze in a shallow container, which makes it easier to scoop.
Makes 4 servings.
