Goat Lady Frozen Yoghurt makes a début

About a month or so ago during a regular kitchen discussion of all things cheese related, I brought up how big real yogurt shops had become in NYC this winter. Just around the corner from where I was living on Thompson Street there were yogurt joints popping up as frequently and manicure shops. There were articles in the Times about the yogurt wars lead by Pinkberry, Red Mango and others. Even the dairy industry news had articles about the growing frozen yogurt franchise.

One thing led to another and I thought why not make our own frozen yoghurt? We make about 30 gallons every 2 weeks and our customers really like it. WE really like it. It took just a few minutes and sure enough a very simple recipe turned up. Here is is though check out the link for more interesting details...

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Recipe

Heidi notes: First off, remember it is important to use good-quality whole-milk yogurt. The version in David's book is Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. This time around I skipped out on the vanilla, opting for straight, bright white yogurt with the sweetness playing off the tang of the yogurt. I also used slightly less sugar than called for here, more like 2/3 cup - but you can go either way depending on what you like.

3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
3/4 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.

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.

Makes about 1 quart.

Here is what the final product looked like at its début yesterday. To get to this point I made a test batch in our handy 1 gallon ice cream maker about 3 weeks ago and had the family try it. Everyone loved it! Really rich, very lemony, tart, not too sweet, and impossibly refreshing. I tinkered with the recipe a bit (in the background Steve was improving the yoghurt make) and came out with another batch on Tuesday. Another hit. All the while we were devising a means of how best to make it, getting it to market, serving containers, serving size, etc. Everyone contributed and in the end Nathan found 4 oz clear plastic soft serve cups (we hope to move to something more eco friendly if this becomes a regular product) and small spoons.

I made 2 gallons of mix in Friday night, cleaned the ice cream makers and chilled them overnight. I arrived at the dairy at 5 AM yesterday morning as I usually do but in addition to packing coolers with Steve for market, debagging curd, turning cheese and loading the van, I made frozen yoghurt as well. Once churned, I scooped it into 2 gallon plastic containers, covered and packed in a cooler filled with ice. We decided to start scooping at 10AM in order to give the frozen yoghurt time to freese and set up. I mixed it every 20 minutes and sure enough it became thicker and colder and not too icy.

Here is Nathan selling the first cup - we sold out in just over an hour to rave reviews.
















And what would a yoghurt launch be like without a photo of a very cute future yoghurt eater?