Evening Edge
What’s For Dinner?
DEL.ICIO.USCULTURED TREAT
Making frozen yogurt at home pays off in tasty benefitsThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/17/08
Making a bargain with my family has benefits for everyone: The chores get done and we all get a healthy, goes-down-easy dessert.
It was also a bribe for my chore-averse children. If they would not only clear the dinner table but fill the dishwasher and put the leftovers away without bickering or stalling, then I would provide dessert. That seemed fair.
 RENEE' HANNANS HENRY/AJC | |||
| Leah Kessler gives her stamp of approval on the whole milk plain yogurt with raspberry and sugar. John Kessler said his experiments with homemade frozen yogurt began in part as an incentive for his children to do their chores. | |||
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Working quickly, I flavored a half carton of goat's-milk yogurt (bought on a whim, never finished) with the aforementioned ingredients and poured them into an ice cream maker. I had no idea what I was doing but figured something cold and sweet would result. My kids aren't picky when it comes to cold and sweet.
What emerged from the ice cream maker was remarkably similar in texture to the soft-serve frozen yogurt at Yoforia or Juicygreen — creamy and thick on the spoon but with a fine, crystalline iciness on the tongue.
The flavor was all its own — tart, elusive, goaty, sweet but not too. Fantastic.
After churning out several batches of honey goat over the next few weeks, I began to branch out, experiment, question the recipe.
Could I add fruit? Yes!
Could I use Greek yogurt? Nonfat yogurt? Yes and yes.
I was onto something, and the kids were all too happy to keep washing dishes in anticipation of the next batch. Me, I was excited to take our ice cream machine out of its virtual mothballs — the island of lost appliances in the cabinet over the range.
Making actual ice cream isn't hard, but it requires a commitment to craft. You have to think in terms of recipes and start with either a cooked custard or a base so rich in butterfat that it stays scoopable after you churn it and then freeze it solid.
In the long run, this never worked for me. I'm more of a "what's for dinner?" kind of cook than a craft kind of cook.
Beyond that, I'm all for fattening treats now and again, but I did have a moment's pause while glugging a quart carton of cream into a bowl for peach ice cream. Did I really want to feed this to my kids?
My frozen yogurt, however, would never be fattier than whole milk and offered the added health benefits of active cultures. It always came out of the machine thick, luscious, perfect at just that moment in time. The leftovers, granted, became hard and dull in the freezer, but we rarely had any excess.
Now we eat frozen yogurt at least twice a week. Peaches, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, coffee and maple syrup have all taken turns as the principal flavoring. It is a forgiving concoction. Reduce the sugar, up the amount of fruit, substitute honey or agave nectar, switch yogurt brands — no biggie.
In fact, the more I played with the recipe, the more we all began to favor versions that highlighted rather than hid the bracing tang of yogurt.
A little fresh yogurt, a little fruit, almost no sugar, a clean table and a purring dishwasher — I can't think of a nicer way to finish dinner.
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Comments
By JohnKessler
Jul 21, 2008 5:39 PM | Link to this
thanks for the comments ı and the recipe! May have to break away from yogurt to try it. JK
By Leila
Jul 17, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this
Hi,
Enjoyed reading reading this and love yogurt. May do it but no one in kingdom can duplicate my aunt's hand churned ice cream!!!!!!!!! My childhood summers were made even sweeter when Nannine made this delectable sweet concoction.
Here it is. Try it:
My paternal aunt, Caroline Sisson, who was affectionately called ıNannineı by our family and Carrie by her friends, made the most scrumptious ice cream I have ever eaten in my entire life. Ben and Jerryıs specialty ice cream canıt hold a spoon to Nannine ıs. Made with a custard base and hand cranked in an old fashioned ice cream freezer by Doucette, my second cousin, until it was of the right consistency, the dasher was slowly removed from the then frozen product. More ice cream salt was packed around the freezer and the cream was left to ıripenı for what seemed liked an eternity when I was a child. These ladies scooped the ice cream into fragile pink porcelain ice cream dishes. This frozen delicacy topped off many a ladyıs luncheon and family gathering at my auntıs home in Atlanta. In fact, Nannineıs Maple Ice Cream was so delicious guests constantly asked for the recipe after their first spoonful. ıCarrie, youıll just have to give me this recipe.ı And she would. She even divulged the secret to its goodness, knowing full well her ice cream couldn't be duplicated. Thatıs because none o fher friends had access to the ısecret ingredient.ı It wasn't available at the corner grocery but lived in the barn behind my auntıs house. Have you guessed Nannineıs main ingredient in her famous Maple Ice Cream? ıFirst, you must start with cream fresh from the Jersey Cow,ı she would say. That always drew a laugh. Well, I donıt think many of us today, especially those inside the Atlanta perimeter where my three maiden aunts once lived has a Jersey cow readily available in their barn out back to give fresh milk and cream but you can substitute heavy cream or perhaps half and half for the ısecret ingredientı in Nannineıs Maple Ice Cream.
Leila Sisson Barrett Case
Nannineıs Maple Ice Cream
Make boiled custard with 1 pint of sweet milk, 2 eggs, and 2 tablespoons sugar and thicken this with 1-tablespoon cornstarch.
Place In a separate boiler 1 cup of Log Cabin syrup and let come to a brisk boil only.
Pour the hot syrup into the custard, stir briskly and do not allow to boil (it may curdle). Set aside to cool. When ready to freeze add 3 pints of heavy cream to the custard mixture, stir well and freeze in a one-gallon freezer that turns.
ENJOY! Better than Yogurt too
By FCM
Jul 16, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this
Mr K....Now I have to go buy an ice cream maker!!!!! We love frozen fruity yogurt. Who doesn't love dessert? I am seeing swirls of good stuff here......I could convince myself that ice cream was too fattening (and when on sale 3 for $10 not too expensive to buy already made)...to necessitate a machine. Plus I would actually have to consider making it.
My Grandmother's boiled custard still makes the best plain jane vanilla ice cream. However, she would heartily approve of yogurt---just wish she was still here to have some too.
By Bubba J. Jakewoeicski
Jul 16, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
Dadburn, John, that sounds good ... and more importantly, easy. Thanks!
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