Thursday, July 31, 2008

The fireplace is on and we're eating frozen yogurt.


It's bloody cold in here... I'm reduced to wearing fuzzy slippers. Vancouver weather usually pampers me, but this year it's highly unreasonable. Either that, or I'm used to complaining every year this time rolls around (or anytime... yea, definitely anytime). But that's OK, a little bit of home-made frogurt makes everything much betta.



I've been really holding out on taking good pictures, with the weather like this. I really hope the sun rolls out around BC Day, because I'm gonna be fixin' something special for Gordon Campbell.

Recipe and nutrition after the jump.


Low-Fat Bittersweet Chocolate Frozen Yogurt
Serves 8.

3 cups plain yogurt (I used a whole 750 gram container, fat-free) *see note
1 1/2 cup milk (any kind, I used 1%)
1 tbsp. starch (I used tapioca, but cornstarch or arrowroot powder is fine)
1 cup cocoa **see note #2
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla or 1 vanilla bean

You will need an ice-cream maker for this! Am I evil for telling you this now?
I have a Krups GVS1 that makes 1 quart at a time.

The day before, throw your ice cream maker in the freezer (turn it to the coldest possible setting to avoid any disappointments the day after... this happened to me).

Dump your yogurt in a few layers of large cheesecloth, tie off the ends (throw away the keys too!) and let it strain in a wee, lonely corner of your fridge. Set a bowl underneath it to catch the whey which we will chug later when no one's looking . Leave it alone for a good few hours or overnight. When it is ready, you'll end up with a little less than two cups of the creme de la creme.

In a sauce pan, stir in the milk, cocoa, starch and sugar over medium heat. If you're using vanilla bean, throw it in right now. Get ready to stir like crazy folks, do not let your eyes or that spatula leave the pot of good stuff. If you do burn your pot, some boiling lemon juice during the clean-up should do the trick. When the mix starts to boil gently, remove from heat and stir for one more minute. Congrats! We just made chocolate pudding and if you're like me, steal a big spoonful right now. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.

If you're using vanilla extract, mix it in the pudding, then fold in the strained yogurt. Give them a good, vigorous stir and forget about the whole thing in the fridge for another few hours or overnight.

Now, the yogurt should be chilled and your ice cream maker should be ready. Go ahead and dump that bad boy in, and watch as the fro-yo goodness unfold before your eyes in no time, well, I wish 20-30 minutes.

Right out of the ice-cream maker, it has a soft-serve consistency. Some people prefer theirs more firm, so go ahead and freeze it for an additional 30 minutes before serving.

I served mine with some homemade maple creme anglaise (as a part of special BC Day fixin's for Mr. Campbell) which I will post later.

Per serving:

173 Cal, 2 g total fat, 1.2 g sat. fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 93 mg sodium, 35 g carbs, 3.2 g dietary fiber, 28.4 g sugar, 8.7 g protein

Note: I find strained plain yogurt makes just the right tanginess. Greek Yogurt is too tangy for my taste, but if that's your thing feel free to switch it up.

Note #2: The cocoa powder is really what gives the bitterness (but also chocolate goodness!) to the recipe. Some people may find it too strong, and should either reduce that amount or increase the amount of sugar.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I know, weather has been really weird lately. I remember going to school with flip flops and it was raining. Bad day for my feet hahaha.

That frozen yogurt looks good Lucy! Oh, have you heard that AE is going to be at UBC this year?