As you may know if you follow me on Twitter, as an anniversary/early birthday present Jay bought me the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer (better known around these parts as “Lola”). This was an incredibly exciting & momentous occasion for me, I’ve been wanting that attachment since shortly after receiving the mixer itself (also from Jay… he gives good gifts, what can I say). I was also excited because I got an old-fashioned ice cream scoop with it. You could seriously kill someone with this thing. So he gave it to me the Saturday before our anniversary (which was July 12th) and all throughout the fun-filled weekend we had, I kept thinking of what I was going to make with that attachment. My mind filled with possibilities, the most obvious of which was, number one: peanut butter ice cream- Jay loves peanut butter and I have to make him something he really likes for getting me such an awesome gift, and number two: homemade frozen yogurt. We’re big Red Mango fans here (and before the TCBY we used to go to closed, we were huge TCBY fans!) and if I could duplicate the deliciousness that is frozen yogurt at home, then I’d be a happy camper. I also have a myriad of other requests; for instance salted caramel ice cream is a repeated request from my mother, as well as all the things I’ve been dreaming up (homemade rocky road, s’mores ice cream, pumpkin pie ice cream in the fall, etc). Bottom line… this is going to be opening up an all-new stream of categories and recipes here on Cupcake Rehab. I’m already imagining vanilla ice cream with thick threads of homemade caramel laced through it, with pieces of waffle cone. *sigh*

Anyway, as soon as I got it, I put the bowl right in the freezer. I knew I’d be using it in the not-too-distant future, so why bother to wait? When I decided what I was going to make as my first recipe, I was pretty happy I’d had the bowl in there already, since before use it has to be frozen for a minimum of 15 hours. I randomly decided, after having this thing for 5 days, that homemade frozen yogurt would be the first thing I’d create. Since the refrigeration time was only 1 hour and there was no cooking involved, it was a quick and easy way to “test” my new toy and also reap the benefits. Healthy and delicious, but also satisfying to your sweet tooth.

The ice cream scoop is so cool! It makes the perfect little round mounds…

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This recipe is David Leibovitz‘s from his book, The Perfect Scoop. The book sounds really awesome, and it’s all about frozen desserts, so I’m going to get a copy… since I now plan on making more ice cream than I’ll ever eat, probably. Frozen yogurt became a huge deal about 15-20 years ago, I remember when I was a kid it was “the big thing.” Every mall you went into had frozen yogurt stands and it seemed everyone was always going to get a “fro yo.” According to Wikipedia, in the early 1990’s, frozen yogurt comprised 10% of the total dessert market. Recently it’s made a comeback in a purer form- more tangy, less sweet, and more natural. Places like TCBY, Pinkberry, Red Mango and Tutti Frutti are everywhere. And now it’s in my kitchen, too!

FROZEN YOGURT

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (24 ounces) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt *
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions (for mine, it’s just 20-30 minutes in the bowl being mixed by the “dasher”).
3. If you aren’t using Greek yogurt, you have to strain regular plain togurt. To make 1 cup  of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. then scrape 16 ounces or 2 cups of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. For the above recipe you’ll need to start with and strain 6 cups of yogurt.

I used mini-chocolate chips on top of mine, and my mother used blueberries. It was honestly so fucking delicious I couldn’t believe it. It was the perfect frozen yogurt. PERFECT. I was addicted instantly. And even better, I made homemade pizza for dinner before having this for dessert. I can’t even tell you how good it was. So good, in fact, I think it gives Red Mango a run for it’s money. It would also be perfect for a parfait- don’t keep it in the machine for the full amount of time, take it out when it’s softer… then layer it with fruit and granola. I don’t really get down like that, I like chocolate or peanut butter chips on my frozen yogurt, it’s just another idea I’m throwing out there.

I actually wish I had had graham crackers- crushed graham crackers on frozen yogurt tastes just like cheesecake. Mmmm. Next time, I would add a smidge more sugar- during the “freezing” it loses most of it’s sweetness. It was delicious this way but for me I think I’d enjoy a little more sweetness. Unfortunately, for those of you without an ice cream maker, it does require an ice cream maker to make. There are other options out there for those of you who are stand mixer-less; namely Cuisinart who make stand-alone ice cream makers that comes highly recommended, and also Krups. But if you’ve got a KitchenAid stand mixer, you might as well invest in the attachment as opposed to buying a separate machine.

As far as the attachment goes- my review is that it’s amazingly, fantastically awesomesauce. I was doubtful, especially since really all you do is freeze the bowl and then mix the ingredients in the frozen bowl. I thought, “This is never going to work…” but shit yeah it did! I should never have doubted KitchenAid. It’s only been around a million years. Well that and the fact that they’ve sold gazillions of this attachment and if it didn’t work, nobody would buy it.

And I swear on buttercream, if one of my many copycats out there suddenly pops up with a KitchenAid ice cream maker and decides they’re all into making homemade yogurt and ice cream… I will publicly & malevolently embarrass them. I’m just waiting for it… so go ahead. Test me.