LONG awaited FroYo post

After all my ice cream adventures a few weeks ago I decided that next time I go for a frozen delicacy I will try my hand at frozen yogurt. Yesterday was that day. After about 10 minutes of Internet research I quickly concluded that David Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop, was widely acclaimed as the VERY best frozen yogurt recipe available.

3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

To make 1 cup (240g) of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. then scrape 16 ounces or 2 cups (480g) of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. So, for the above recipe start with and strain 6 cups of yogurt.

The problem I was having was that the recipe calls for 3 cups of Greek Style or Strained Yogurt. I was fairly confident that I wouldn't be able to find Greek Style yogurt and making your own Strained Yogurt take SIX HOURS! So I kept looking, hoping for an indication that plain old unstrained grocery store brand yogurt would suffice. NO DICE people, it is a universal conclusion that you MUST use Greek style or strained yogurt to make your own froyo. So then I did some research to find out exactly what Greek yogurt was (its just strained yogurt) and if there was ANY chance I would find some here in College Station, TX. I found one reference to a brand name that someone mentioned had recently become available in their local grocery in NYC. I don't live in NYC, but it sparked some hope that I might Greek yogurt in our local HEB (which is generally known for having larger ethnic/organic/speciality selections than say Kroger) and satisfy my must have it now need for frozen yogurt.

I was in luck! HEB did in fact have quite a selection of Fage (Fa-yeh) Greek style yogurt. I wasn't going to have to wait 6 hours to strain my own!!!!

So I got out all the ingredients, and decided to make 2 batches: one plain vanilla and one cake batter. I just LOVE how simple this recipe is... seriously 3 ingredients in each batch. It really makes me wonder what all is in the stuff I buy elsewhere.

This is the point where both batches are ready to go into the fridge for the hour long chili down, and I go to set up my ice cream maker. This is also where I realize that I forgot to stick the canister back in the freezer after I washed it last time and there is no way I will have my FroYo in an hour and a half. This is also the moment I decide that I want this ice cream maker instead of this one.

But now its today, and my vanilla froyo is safe in the freezer, while my cake batter spins away in the kitchen as I type.

And the results: Sadly, I don't think I like the vanilla. Don't get me wrong, the texture is AWESOME and far superior to anything you can get in a shop, but its just got a little more zing than I was prepared for. I will have to go back and give it another try in a bit, but its still a little to tangy and yogurty for me. Next time, I think I will either add a little bit more sugar, or just stick to ice cream for the plain vanilla stuff. The cake batter turned out a little bit better though, I think its just sweet enough to subdue the tang and satisfy my sweet tooth.

Also, I used a combination of Fage 0% (which literally has zero fat), Fage 2%, and Fage total (which I was SHOCKED to see had 20g of fat in just 6oz.). I am not sure if I would like the flavor more if I used all Fage total, but at that point I'm thinking that plain old ice cream cant be that much worse for you.

So after all that, I'm truly undecided about my foray into the world of frozen yogurt. I'd much rather have a big Styrofoam cup of Zaks (whatever it contains).