Frozen Yogurt
Makes: About 1 quart
Time: 5 minutes, plus time to chill and churn
With just two ingredients and hardly any real prep work, this is one of the easiest desserts there is. Whole-milk yogurt produces the creamiest results; Greek yogurt, which is much thicker, often becomes too hard in the freezer but is an excellent complement to fruit purées, as in the variation.
- 3½ cups yogurt
- ¾ cup granulated or superfine sugar
Whisk together the yogurt and sugar until combined. Chill for 30 minutes, then churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
HONEY FROZEN YOGURT Yes, this can pass as breakfast: Reduce the sugar to 3 tablespoons and add ⅔ cup honey.
FRUITY FROZEN YOGURT Any fruit is wonderful here, as is a combination: Replace the yogurt with 2 cups Greek yogurt and add 1½ cups fruit purée.
COCONUT FROZEN YOGURT Replace 1 cup of the yogurt with 1 cup full-fat coconut milk. Add 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut just before churning.
7 Mix-Ins for Frozen Yogurt
Add these to the yogurt before chilling and use as many as you like:
6 Treats to Make with Ice Cream, Sorbet, or Frozen Yogurt
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
Sandwich a scoop of your favorite ice cream between a pair of homemade cookies, like vanilla ice cream between Chocolate Chunk Cookies or Ginger Ice Cream between Molasses-Spice Cookies.
SUNDAES
Top a few scoops of your ice cream of choice with any of the following: Chocolate, Caramel, or Butterscotch Sauce, Whipped Cream, sprinkles, chopped toasted nuts, or leftover crumbled cookies. With sundaes, anything goes.
LAYERED ICE CREAM CAKE
Prepare a layer cake of your choice (see pages 196–218). Soften your batch of ice cream by microwaving it for a few seconds and then stirring with a rubber spatula (see Ice Cream Genoise). Spread the softened ice cream between the layers, then stick the cake in the freezer until firm. Meanwhile, prepare your frosting. Working quickly, frost the frozen cake, sticking the cake back in the freezer if the ice cream starts to melt. Store the cake in the freezer; thaw for 15 minutes before serving, just until it’s soft enough to slice easily.
BANANA SPLITS
Cut a banana in half lengthwise and lay it in a dish. Add a scoop each of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream (page 314 and 310) in a line down the center of the two banana pieces and garnish with chopped nuts, Whipped Cream, and maraschino cherries. If you like, a drizzle of Hot Fudge or Rich Chocolate Sauce never hurts.
PARFAITS
Layer one or a combination of ice creams and sorbets with Fruit Sauce, Macerated Fruit, Fruit Purée, Fruit Jam, or Marmalade and crushed graham crackers or cookie crumbs.
TARTUFO
Line a 9 × 5-inch metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 3-inch overhang on all sides. Spread 1 quart softened ice cream evenly into the pan and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the ice cream with a handful of chopped nuts, maraschino cherries, chocolate chips, or any topping to your liking. Spread more softened ice cream (the same or a different flavor) on top to fill the pan (about 3 cups). Freeze the pan until the ice cream is firm, 1 hour. Meanwhile, make Chocolate Ganache. Spread two-thirds of the ganache over the ice cream and freeze until the chocolate is very hard, about 2 hours. Rewarm the remaining ganache over low heat, then cool to room temperature. Run a knife around the outside of the pan to loosen the ice cream and invert the loaf onto a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Peel off the plastic wrap and quickly spread chocolate ganache over the bare top and sides of the ice cream loaf. Sprinkle more toppings like nuts or fruit over the loaf, then freeze until the chocolate is firm, another hour. Cut the tartufo into slices and serve with more warm ganache if you like.
The base ratio always remains the same: 6 yolks—or 2 tablespoons cornstarch—with 3 cups total liquid; only the type of liquid, the flavorings (substituted for the vanilla), and the sweetener change.
VARIATION: Chocolate Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
HOW TO ADD: Add to the ice cream base with the half-and-half and cream.
VARIATION: Strawberry (or Any Berry) Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 cup berry purée, strained (see page 572)
HOW TO ADD: Stir into the ice cream base before chilling.
VARIATION: Coffee Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 2 to 3 shots freshly brewed espresso or ½ cup ground coffee
HOW TO ADD: Swap liquid coffee for ½ cup of the half-and-half or steep ground coffee in the hot base (see The Three Stages of Ice Cream Flavoring)
VARIATION: Coconut Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 cup coconut milk; ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted in a dry skillet until lightly browned if you like (see page 57)
HOW TO ADD: Replace the cream with the coconut milk and fold the coconut into the ice cream base before chilling.
VARIATION: Spice Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ½ teaspoon each cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, black pepper, and coriander, plus 2 vanilla beans; or use 1 tablespoon single spice, like cinnamon or cardamom
HOW TO ADD: Split open the vanilla beans and steep in the hot ice cream base (see page 310); stir ground spices directly into the base before chilling.
VARIATION: Pumpkin Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 cup canned pumpkin purée; ½ teaspoon each cinnamon and ginger
HOW TO ADD: Whisk 1 cup of the hot ice cream base with the pumpkin to thin it, then add it to the base with the spices before chilling.
VARIATION: Rum-Raisin Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ½ to ¾ cup raisins; ¼ cup dark rum; ½ cup packed light brown sugar
HOW TO ADD: Soak the raisins in the rum at room temperature for an hour or so, or bring to a boil and set aside to cool. Use the brown sugar in place of granulated. Add the rum-raisin mixture to the ice cream base for the last minute or 2 of cooking, before chilling.
VARIATION: Maple-Nut Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ¾ cup maple syrup; 1 cup chopped lightly toasted nuts (see page 57), like pecans or walnuts
HOW TO ADD: Swap the sugar for the maple syrup and add the nuts to the base before chilling.
VARIATION: Buttermilk Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 cup buttermilk
HOW TO ADD: Use the buttermilk instead of cream.
VARIATION: Mascarpone Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 cup mascarpone cheese
HOW TO ADD: Use mascarpone instead of cream.
VARIATION: Banana Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 2 ripe bananas
HOW TO ADD: Peel and steep the bananas in the hot ice cream base (see page 311), then strain them out before chilling the base.
FLAVORINGS: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger; ½ cup minced candied ginger
HOW TO ADD: Steep the fresh ginger in the hot ice cream base (see page 311), then strain it out and stir in the candied ginger before chilling.
VARIATION: Green Tea Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 tablespoon matcha green tea or 2 tablespoons leaf green tea
HOW TO ADD: Stir the matcha into the base before chilling or infuse the hot ice cream base with leaf green tea (see page 311).
VARIATION: Corn-Maple Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ½ cup maple syrup; 2 ears corn, plus more if you like
HOW TO ADD: Use the maple syrup in place of sugar. Cut the kernels from the corn, purée, and strain, then add the liquid with the cobs to the ice cream base with the half-and-half and cream. Strain and discard the cobs from the finished ice cream base; if you like, stir in more whole corn kernels before chilling.
VARIATION: Avocado Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 1 large avocado puréed with the juice of a lime
HOW TO ADD: Whisk the avocado with a bit of the hot ice cream base until smooth, then stir it into the bowl before chilling.
VARIATION: Miso-Peach Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ½ cup packed light brown sugar; 2 peaches (or nectarines), peeled and puréed to make about 1 cup, whisked with 1 tablespoon white miso
HOW TO ADD: Use brown sugar instead of white. Add the peach mixture to the ice cream base before chilling.
VARIATION: Bacon-Bourbon-Maple-Pecan Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ¾ cup maple syrup; 2 tablespoons bourbon; 4 strips chopped cooked bacon, the rendered bacon fat, and ¾ cup chopped toasted pecans
HOW TO ADD: Use the maple syrup instead of sugar. Whisk the bourbon into the ice cream base in the last minute or 2 of cooking, then fold in the bacon, fat, and pecans before chilling.
VARIATION: Olive Oil Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: ⅓ cup olive oil
HOW TO ADD: Whisk the olive oil into the base before chilling.
VARIATION: Salted Caramel Ice Cream
FLAVORINGS: 2 cups Caramel Sauce and 1½ teaspoons coarse salt
HOW TO ADD: Stir the caramel and salt into the base before chilling.