Ice Cream and Frozen Yoghurt

I like watching TV shows about cooking. I always get new inspiration from them and learn a lot about techniques.

A few days ago I was watching Donna Hays show. She made a frozen banana mango yoghurt that is so simple to make that I was wandering why I even bother to use my ice cream machine at all. All she did was cut mango and banana into pieces. Put them into zip-lock bags and let them freeze in the freezer. Once they were frozen she took them out and put them into a blender, added yoghurt to it and let the blender run until the is a thick frozen mixture. Pour it all into a container and put it back into the freezer for an hour to set. I thought WOW! That is by far the easiest way to get ice cream.

Being me I ended up in my kitchen trying it out. I must say the combination of banana and mango is delicious. And due to the sweetness of the fruits there is no need to add up any additional sugar which makes this the perfect diet dessert.

Curious as I am I wanted to know if this works also for non fruit ice creams. So I started experimenting with a coffee mocha ice cream. Basically a chocolate coffee blend. I am sure by now you have figured out that I am very fond of this combination of flavours.

I started by making a chocolate custard out of 400ml milk, 40g custard sugar, 40g cocoa powder and 25g cornstarch. In a pot a mix the cocoa with 350ml milk and bring it to boiling point. In a small bowl I mix the sugar with the cornstarch. Add 50ml milk to get a smooth mixture. While stirring I now add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling milk. Stirring constantly I let it boil for 1-2 minutes or until it thickens. This mixture I pour into an ice cube tray, let it cool down and than put it into the freezer. I use an ice cube tray as ice cubes are easy to crush in a blender. If you pour the custard into a container make sure you cut it into pieces before you put it into your blender.

In a second ice cube tray I freeze 200ml espresso mixed with 60g sugar. This ice cream needs the sugar to balance the bitterness of the cocoa and espresso. In the liquid stage it will taste very sweet but this will be toned down once the ice cream is frozen.

The next day I take 200ml well chilled whipped cream. I put the custard and the coffee ice cubes into the blender and let it run for about 30 seconds. Than I add the whipped cream and let the blender run until it is a thick paste. It all goes into a dish and back into the freezer for 1 hour to set.

It worked perfectly fine. If you like to you can add 50g coarsely chopped almonds as a special treat to the ice cream. And a special cup of coffee is ready.

It is so simple as all ingredients are frozen separately and than mixed. For me the days that I had to empty the freezer to chill the bowl of my ice making machine are gone.

I was so excited that I immediately tried another flavour. This time mango-ginger with yoghurt. The sweetness of the fruit combined with the spicy ginger turned out to be a very nice combination too.

For it I took 400g mango cut into small dices, put the fruit into a zip-lock bag and left it over night in the freezer. It is important to cut it into small ices as otherwise the blender might get damaged.

For the ginger syrup I take 2 table spoons custard sugar, 3 tablespoons water and 1,5cm fresh ginger finely grated. Boil this mixture over low heat until it starts thickening. Remove from the heat and let it cool down. Pour through a strainer.

Add 400g plain yoghurt to the ginger syrup and mix it well.

Put the frozen mango into the blender and let it run for a few seconds to cut the mango. Add the yoghurt mixture and let the blender run until you have a thick smooth frozen paste.

Pour the mixture into a container and put it back into the freezer to set.

Thank you Donna Hay for giving me this super simple method for making ice cream. From now on home made ice cream will be a regular on my menu.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola