I freaking despise frozen yogurt. In general.
Part of it dates back to my disordered eating days, when I felt that frozen yogurt was what I "should" eat instead of ice cream. I think that since entering recovery, I've had a huge sense of wariness about anything perceived as "virtuous" or "low fat".
Since ditching my eating disorder, I also ditched anything that is manufactured to be low fat (naturally low fat foods are fine by me). I don't want a "lower fat" alternate to ice cream. Give me the full fat stuff. I want to LIVE, and I want ICE CREAM.
And as my final word on the matter--I am fine with fruit being healthy. I am fine with salad being healthy. But stop trying to make dessert healthy. When I want dessert, I want DESSERT, not health food. To put it simply:
But I will tell you this: when frozen yogurt is homemade, I don't despise it quite as much. In fact, I don't despise it at all.
Maybe it's because I can employ a really good quality (FULL FAT) yogurt. Maybe it's because I can flavor it how I want. Or maybe the sense of achievement is just intoxicating and makes me want to like the flavor, and therefore I do.
This homemade froyo is awesome. I used the fancy $8 thing of Greek yogurt from the health food store, which is just full of fat (I made sure before proceeding). The fat gives it FLAVOR.
Added flavor comes from the mix of honey and lavender. The lavender in this recipe isn't such a great quantity that it gets perfumey (I don't like that) but it works to make the honey more interesting. The tanginess of the yogurt helps tame the lavender, too, so it acts as a nice scent but not an overpowering floral flavor.
This is an adaptation of a recipe I developed for New Mexico magazine. I used local lavender and honey, and I think that also added to the "story" of this yogurt - as in, everything tastes better with a story, right?
So here's a recipe for frozen yogurt that doesn't suck. It's perfect for these last few warm days of summer.
HONEY-LAVENDER FROZEN YOGURT
Lightly adapted from the version seen in New Mexico Magazine
makes 6 servings
1/3 cup honey
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dried lavender
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
1 quart plain regular or Greek yogurt
Combine the honey, sugar, lavender, salt, and water in a saucepan.
Heat on medium until it begins to bubble at the edges and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from heat; pour through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the lavender; it will get gummy and chewy if you leave it. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before proceeding.
In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt and the cooled honey mixture. Stir just to combine.
Chill in the refrigerator, or using an ice bath, until the mixture registers 45° F or slightly lower.
Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker; churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To make it without an ice cream maker, follow the steps in this post (even though it's not ice cream, the method is the same).
Transfer to a freezer-safe container before storing.
Enjoy!