There’s a magical place called Pinkberry. Have you heard of it? Until moving to LA, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Even the first time I tried it, I wasn’t convinced. It tasted like the yogurt-granola-raspberry parfaits I sometimes make at home, so I didn’t see the value in shelling out $4 for it. But two or three days later the cravings hit. I began to dream about that tart, semi-frozen yogurt flavor and couldn’t believe I fell for it. I knew it must be possible to recreate it at home, (and I finally started eating Greek yogurt again and realized that the flavor was so much like…Pinkberry) so I set out to find a recipe that would live up to the expectation. Enter David Lebowitz and the recipe from his book, The Perfect Scoop.
It’s a measly three ingredients, and you might have all of them sitting in your kitchen right now. I like to top mine with white chocolate shavings and raspberries, but you can use whatever you like. And since summer is inching closer and closer, this is a great recipe to keep in the forefront of your mind for all the times you just want to sit around and eat something cold.
Frozen Yogurt
Recipe via 101 Cookbooks, via David Lebowitz
I made it once with vanilla and once without. Neither will disappoint, but for Pinkberry purists, go sans vanilla for a tarter flavor.
3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
½ cup (150g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, about 25 minutes.
*To make 1 cup (240g) of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. then scrape 16 ounces or 2 cups (480g) of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. So, for the above recipe start with and strain 6 cups of yogurt.
