The frozen yogurt recipe
for your table
Hang the yogurt in a clean cloth for a few hours, or place it in a sieve lined with a coffee filter over a bowl. Quite a lot of whey will drain out, leaving it thicker and less watery. Draining it is the cheapest improvement you can make to the texture.
Stir the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla into the drained yogurt until the sugar has completely dissolved, not just been mixed in. Taste it now: everything tastes less sweet when cold, so what tastes just right at room temperature will come out of the freezer tasting bland.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form and fold it in in two additions. The fat from the cream settles between the ice crystals and keeps them small. Without the cream, it becomes grainy, no matter how carefully you work.
Churn the mixture in the ice cream maker, but for less time than you would churn ice cream: as soon as it has the consistency of soft serve, it’s ready. Spoon it straight into the glasses and put the toppings on the table.
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The story
Frozen yoghurt is not ice cream with yoghurt flavor but precisely the opposite: yoghurt that you freeze, with just enough cream and sugar added to keep it scoopable. That tartness is the whole point, because it makes the flavor sharper than ice cream and calls for toppings that balance it out. In an ice cream shop, it is kept in a machine that constantly moves it and keeps it just below freezing, so it continues to flow like soft serve. At home, you do not have that machine, so you make it just before serving and eat it immediately. That is not a shortcoming but simply how the dish works.
The right glass
Frozen yoghurt is a dish built around toppings, and that determines the shape of the glass: you want it wide and shallow, so granola, fruit and chocolate lie side by side instead of falling on top of one another in a funnel. The first glass below holds 18 cl and is described as a wide, low dish on a low foot, specifically mentioned for yoghurt with granola and for muesli. The second holds 28 cl and, according to its description, is 8.6 cm high with a diameter of 10.9 cm and a sturdy foot; through the clear glass, you can see the layers of a dessert well. A tall glass looks better in a photo, but you cannot reach the bottom properly with a spoon. More sizes are available among the ice cream coupes.
La Rochere Coupelle 18 cl Alice (6 pieces)
Onis Primavera ice cream coupe 28 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 51,90.
The right tools
For frozen yoghurt, besides the glass, you need a bar spoon with a long handle to distribute the yoghurt all the way to the bottom of a taller glass, and a zester to grate chocolate or lemon zest over the toppings. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Distributes the yoghurt all the way to the bottom of the glass
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 54,85.
What will you pour alongside it?
With frozen yoghurt, a small glass of fruit liqueur is a better pairing than wine, because the yoghurt's acidity calls for something sweet alongside it. Passoã and Malibu complement tropical fruit as a topping, while limoncello does the same with lemon. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Frozen yogurt is as plain as you let it be, because the toppings make the dish. Granola provides the crunch that the soft mixture itself lacks, fresh berries and mango add acidity and sweetness, a spoonful of honey brings it all together and shaved chocolate stays hard enough for long enough to hear. If you want a colored version, purée one hundred grams of raspberries or mango and stir it in at the end with a few strokes, so streaks remain instead of an even color. There is also a quick version without a machine: blend frozen fruit with the drained yogurt until thick and eat it immediately. More inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Frozen yogurt is at its best straight from the machine, like soft serve. If it has been in the freezer, put the glasses on the counter ten minutes before serving, because it becomes harder than ice cream. Put the toppings in separate bowls on the table and let everyone build their own; that way the granola stays crunchy.
Good to know
Why does frozen yogurt become hard so quickly?
Because yogurt contains a lot of water and little fat. Fat settles between the ice crystals and keeps them small; without it, they continue to grow and you get a block instead of a mixture. Full-fat yogurt instead of low-fat yogurt, a splash of whipping cream and enough sugar together provide the balance. Sugar also lowers the freezing point, so some of the moisture remains liquid.
Does the yogurt really need to be drained first?
You don't have to, but it makes a big difference. Hanging the yogurt in a cloth or in a sieve lined with a coffee filter for a few hours lets the whey drain out, and that is precisely the thin liquid that would otherwise freeze into large crystals. What remains is thicker and firmer. If you are already using thick Greek yogurt, you can drain it for less time.
Why do you churn it for less time than ice cream?
A yogurt base contains less fat and no egg yolk, so it thickens faster. If you keep churning, you will still whip the cream it contains into little flecks of butter, making the texture grainy instead of smooth. Stop as soon as the mixture is as thick as soft serve and falls from the spatula instead of running off it.
What is the difference from the fro-yo from a self-service machine?
Such a machine keeps the mixture moving continuously at a temperature just below zero, so it comes out like soft serve and retains small crystals. At home, your container sits still in a freezer that is much colder, so it becomes harder and you need to let it sit for a while. These machines also often use a ready-made base; here you decide how much cream and sugar to add.
Which yoghurt is best to use?
Full-fat Greek or Turkish yoghurt, because it is thicker and contains more fat than regular yoghurt. Low-fat varieties produce a watery base and therefore larger crystals. Quark works too, but it is more acidic and drier, so allow for a little more sugar and an extra splash of cream.
How long does it keep?
Covered, it keeps for about two weeks in the freezer, but the texture is best on day one and noticeably deteriorates afterwards. Store it in a shallow container with a sheet of baking paper directly on the mixture so the surface does not dry out.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is frozen yoghurt?
Frozen yoghurt with sugar and usually a little cream added, instead of ice cream made with cream and egg yolk. This makes it taste fresher and more acidic than ice cream. Because yoghurt contains less fat, it also freezes harder, which you offset with full-fat yoghurt, a splash of whipped cream and enough sugar.
How do you make frozen yoghurt without an ice cream maker?
Strain the yoghurt first, mix everything together and put it in a shallow container in the freezer. Stir it vigorously every twenty minutes for the first hour and a half, breaking up the crystals at the edges before they grow. A quicker option: blend frozen fruit with the strained yoghurt and eat it immediately as soft serve.
Why is my frozen yoghurt grainy?
Usually because there is too little fat or too little sugar, and sometimes because it is churned for too long. Use full-fat yoghurt, strain it, keep the whipped cream in, and do not skimp on the sugar, because it keeps some of the moisture liquid. Stop churning as soon as the mixture has the consistency of soft serve.
Which toppings go well with frozen yoghurt?
The classics are granola, fresh fruit, honey and chocolate. Granola adds the crunch that the soft mixture lacks, fruit brings acidity and colour, honey binds it together, and chocolate stays hard enough to hear. Serve them separately on the table, because they soften within a few minutes in the glasses.
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