Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

I love ice cream. It’s my favorite splurge. So much so, that I bought an ice cream maker. It’s probably my favorite appliance (next to my coffeemaker, of course).

I’ll admit that I have a weak spot for full-fat recipes. But that's mostly because I haven’t come across a light recipe that I’ve really loved.

That is, until I found came across this strawberry frozen yogurt recipe in Food & Wine, from the owner of Jeni’s here in Columbus. I love her ice cream, so I knew this one probably would be a keeper before I even made it.

Even made with whole milk plain yogurt, it’s lighter than most homemade ice creams. By my calculations, it’s about 169 calories for ½ a cup. Not bad at all!

This time around I made it with some frozen strawberries languishing in my freezer (which is much tastier than it sounds!), but I’ve also made a batch with fresh strawberries when they were in season.

If possible, use fresh. The end results are much better. But the frozen worked out just fine, honestly.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
Makes about 5 cups
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
One 1/4-ounce package unflavored powdered gelatin
12 ounces strawberries, hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Fill a large bowl with ice water for an ice water bath.

Pour the lemon juice in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top; let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, puree the strawberries until smooth. Combine the strawberry puree with the sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high until the sugar dissolves — about 1 minute. Remove it from the heat and stir in the lemon gelatin until it melts.

In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt with the lemon zest and the hot strawberry puree. Stir in the heavy cream. Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the strawberry yogurt is cold, about 20 minutes.

Pour the strawberry yogurt into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the yogurt to separate containers and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.