strawberry frozen yogurt.

I love love love frozen yogurt but they're so expensive, so I wanted to try making my own. I've always wished for an ice cream maker but unfortunately I don't have one so thank goodness for David Lebovitz's tips for poor deprived people like me to produce ice cream or gelato or frozen yogurt or whatever without an ice cream make no commas intended. Sorry. Sugar rush.

Despite the step by step instructions, frozen yogurt made without an ice cream maker is, to be expected anyway, inferior to ones that are made with an ice cream maker. Although I must admit that I love retrieving the container from the freezer every half an hour, whisking the ice crystals from the sides, seeing the mixture thickening before my very eyes. It's a very satisfying job, and I bet people like me who love to stir things would enjoy it too.

balsamic strawberries

I wouldn't say that the texture I got was that bad. It was fluffy and not very icy, but not creamy enough.  If you can resist the temptation, let it melt a bit first, the texture improves tremendously and the flavour comes out more.

I didn't follow David's recipe per se- I knew I preferred milkier frozen yogurts so I changed the ratio of strawberries to yogurt to 1:1. Initially, he called for a pound of strawberries, that's 2 cups, to 1 cup of whole milk yogurt. I tweaked it by using 1 1/2 cup of strawberries to an equal amount of yogurt, changing the sugar level as well. I'm glad I did because I actually found that I wouldn't mind making the frozen yogurt even milkier after I made my changes.

My favourite pairing with strawberry frozen yogurts is oreos. You know how people love vanilla and chocolate together? Well I think fruit and chocolate go together even better. You have to try strawberries and oreos. It rocks.

It's strawberry season! What would you make?

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
adapted from The Perfect Scoop
makes 1 quart (1 litre)

1 1/2 cups or 360g fresh strawberries
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons of vodka or kirsch (optional but I omitted)
1 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt * I used low fat and I didn't mind the difference
1 teaspoon lemon juice


Slice the strawberries into small pieces. Toss in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch (if using) until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring every so often.

Transfer the strawberries and their juice to a blender or food processor. Add the yogurt and fresh lemon juice. Pulse the machine until the mixture is almost smooth. If you wish, press mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds.


Chill for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions or follow David's instructions here if you don't have one.

Linked to Sweets for a Saturday and Sweet Tooth Friday