Featured photo for Frozen Yogurt with xanthan gum recipe

THE LIKE-A-PRO ICE CREAM

Frozen Yogurt
• with xanthan gum •

With Greek yogurt, heavy cream, sugar, xanthan gum.

Finally, a frozen yogurt recipe that has it all: a smooth, perfect texture that doesn’t become icy in the freezer, and just the right amount of yogurt flavor.

When creating this recipe, I discovered that achieving the perfect frozen yogurt can be challenging. Too much yogurt can make it icy, while increasing the heavy cream to reduce iciness can make the yogurt flavor disappear. To address these issues, I added one teaspoon of xanthan gum., which has the ability to trap excess water, resulting in a creamy texture without the need for too much heavy cream.

While there are many gums available, I prefer xanthan gum because it is easy to find in grocery stores and doesn’t require much heating; and this is the reason why I use xanthan gum often. You can read more about it here.

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The ingredients

Do not reduce or replace anything; everything is there for a reason.

Displays the ingredients used in this post's recipe: Frozen Yogurt with xanthan gum.
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The recipe

Frozen Yogurt | with xanthan gum

Ingredients:
Notes:

Strained yogurt (aka Greek yogurt) has the right texture for a perfect Frozen Yogurt. Use the best quality you can afford. Strained yogurt is creamy and thick; anything else is too watery in texture for this recipe. Use full-fat with at least 5% fat content. Strained natural yogurt contains only milk, cream, and live active yogurt culture. If there is anything else in the ingredients, like sugar, flavourings, sweeteners, or preservatives, it is not recommended for this recipe, as it will outbalance it.

When making ice cream, prefer to weigh all the ingredients, even the liquid ones. We also recommend – whenever possible – to weigh the liquid ingredients directly into the bowl/pan as you proceed with the recipe instead of transferring them from one bowl to another because this transfer causes a small -but unwanted- loss of quantity.

If you do not have a kitchen scale, follow these guidelines:
• 1 cup (US) = 237 ml | 1 tablespoons = 15 ml

• sugar: measuring sugar in tablespoons is more accurate than measuring it in cups. Use a 15 ml measuring tablespoon (not a regular one); this is 13 gr of sugar. To measure correctly, each time you scoop the sugar, level it with the flat side of a knife.

• milk and heavy cream: thoroughly scrape with a rubber spatula any residues left on the sides and bottom of the cup every time you measure something and empty it.

Note that the quantities in each measuring system (grams, ounces, and cups) in our recipes may not always be accurate conversions; any deviations in conversions you may notice do not affect the outcome.

This recipe makes a 1.2 litre/quart ice cream mixture (before churning), perfect for ice cream makers with a capacity of 1.5 and up to 2 litres/quarts (like Cuisinart ice cream makers).

If you need to scale the ice cream mixture up or down, use this ratio of the ingredients (in weight only):

natural yogurt 34.3% | heavy cream 48.4% | sugar 15.3 % | xanthan gum 2% in desired total weight of ice cream mixture

A flexible rubber spatula is good for:
-wiping the bottom of the saucepan when you cook dairy on the stovetop.
-scraping residues from bowls, saucepans etc.

If you do not have one, we strongly encourage you to buy one, preferably a flexible one. 

Instructions
Plan ahead:

The frozen yogurt mixture needs to cool completely and hydrate before churning, so prepare it in advance (approx. 8 hours before) to give it time to chill in the refrigerator. 

If your ice cream maker has a removable freezer bowl, put it in the freezer for the whole time indicated by the manufacturer before churning, usually 24 hours.

Step 1: Make the frozen yogurt mixture

Pour half of the cold heavy cream (200 g; 7.05 oz)  into the blender jug and have the blender set up and ready to blend.

Bring to a boil the rest of the heavy cream with the sugar. In a medium saucepan, pour the rest of the heavy cream, (200 g; 7.05 oz) and all the sugar (255 g; 9 oz). 

Warm over medium heat, often stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the heavy cream is hot and steamy.

Increase the heat to high. As soon as the heavy cream comes to a rolling boil (when large bubbles that pop vigorously appear on the surface / approx. 90°C / 195°F / if it starts to overflow), immediately remove it from the heat and

pour the boiling-hot heavy cream into the blender jug with the cold heavy cream.

Turn the blender on (medium speed)Note: By blending that much boiling-hot heavy cream with that much fridge-cold milk, the blend instantly reaches approximately 62 °C/143°F. This is our goal temperature for efficiently dissolving the xanthan gum.

Sprinkle in the xanthan gum: with the blender on, carefully open the cap and slowly sprinkle the xanthan gum (1 teaspoon) over the surface.

Blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate the xanthan gum; do not estimate the time; set a timer. Do not expect the blend to thicken; it will thicken as it cools.

Remove the blender jug and set it next to you on the counter.

Gradually add the blended heavy cream to the yogurt: Place the yogurt (575 g; 20.3 oz) into a large bowl and pour in a splash of the blended heavy cream. Stir with a rubber spatula to incorporate the hot heavy cream. Repeat the splashing and stirring 2-3 times to loosen the yogurt. Now add the rest of the blended hot heavy cream and stir thoroughly to combine. 

Final blend until smooth: Pour the entire mixture from the bowl back into the blender. Scrape any residue from the bowl with a rubber spatula into the blender jug. Blend one more time to achieve a smooth, flawless texture.

Pour back into the bowl: pour the mixture into the bowl -no need to rinse it-, scraping all residues off the blender with the rubber spatula and into the bowl.

Step 2: Chill in the fridge overnight

Leave to cool down:

  • If you’re using full-fat Greek strained yogurt with live active yogurt culture, you can leave the ice cream mixture at room temperature for 2 hours to cool down; this will also enhance the yogurt flavour. After that, put it in the refrigerator overnight to chill.
  • If your yogurt doesn’t have live active culture, cool it down quickly over an ice bath for food safety reasons and then store it in the fridge.
  • If you’re unsure whether your yogurt contains live active culture, check the packaging. It will be labelled as such.

Chill until completely cold: cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Xanthan gum needs 6-8 hours in the refrigerator to fully develop.

Step 3: Churn the frozen yogurt

Check if the ice cream mixture is cold before churning it: below 12ºC / 54ºF / it feels fridge-cold when you place your (clean) finger into it.

Prepare the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 

Blend: The frozen yogurt mixture should be thick after the chilling period, so give it a quick blitz with an immersion blender to allow it to churn for longer and fluff up.

Churn: With the machine running, pour the mixture through the canister and into the ice cream maker. Leave to churn until fluffed up and creamy; depending on your ice cream maker, this can take 30-60 minutes.

Note: Take care not to over-churn it. Remove it from the ice cream machine as soon as it is creamy and wavy. Over-churning will cause it to lose its volume and become heavy in texture.

This frozen yogurt is ready when it looks creamy and wavy, with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. The total churning time depends on your ice cream maker and could be anywhere from 30-70 minutes.

To evaluate whether it is ready, lift a spoonful; it should be thick enough to stand on the spoon but still soft like soft-serve ice cream. If it looks watery or starts to melt the moment you spoon it, leave it to churn for longer.

If you have doubts about the consistency, leave it to churn for ten minutes more. But beware: do not expect it to be like store-bought carton ice cream; for now, it should be more like soft-serve frozen yogurt. It will firm up and become like store-bought frozen yogurt only after it sets in the freezer.
So, stop the ice cream maker when it is thick and creamy, as described above. If you leave it to churn for much longer, it will start losing its volume and become heavy.

Warning: some ice cream makers are programmed to stop after a specific time, which doesn’t make sense because the frozen yogurt may need to churn for more to reach its fullest potential. So, if you notice that your ice cream maker stops on its own and upon checking the frozen yogurt, you find that it is sloppy instead of fluffy, try to turn the machine on again and leave it to churn until it reaches the desired texture.

Step 4: Put the ice cream in the freezer to set

Put in the freezer to set: before serving the frozen yogurt or moving it to a container for storing, you have to put it in the freezer to set. To do so, turn off the ice cream maker and: 

· remove the removable freezer bowl (still filled with the ice cream) from the ice cream machine
· remove the paddle, scraping any frozen yogurt attached to it back into the ice cream bowl 
· place it in the freezer, uncovered
Setting time depends on many factors; see notes below for indicative times.

Serve or store: when it sets, you can serve it directly from the removable freezer bowl or transfer it to an airtight container for longer storage.

The time it takes for yogurt to set depends on the type of ice cream maker you are using. Here are the approximate setting times:

– 3-5 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the bowls that need to be pre-frozen before churning).

– 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers).

Please note that these times are approximate and can vary based on different factors. You should check the frozen yogurt occasionally, approximately every 1-2 hours, or as needed while it is in the freezer. It is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of -11°C / 12°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can check if the frozen yogurt has set by inserting a round-tip knife into it all the way to the bottom:

– When it is ready, it should feel firm as you go down but also soft enough to insert the knife.

– If it’s not ready, it may feel hard on the top and softer as you go down.

– If it’s been in the freezer for too long, it will be too hard to insert the knife and likely too hard to scoop out of the ice cream bowl. In this case, you can find out how to make it scoopable again by clicking on the next section.

If the frozen yogurt stays in the removable freezer bowl for too long, it will become too hard to remove or serve.

To make it scoopable again, leave it in the refrigerator to soften. That can take:

  • anywhere from 4 to 10 hours for removable freezer bowls (these are the ones which need pre-freezing before churning)
  • 1-2 hours for aluminium bowls (these are the bowls from compressor ice cream makers)

(Note: The time given is indicative; time may vary depending on many factors, so check it occasionally as it sits in the refrigerator.)

When the frozen yogurt is soft enough to scoop (or it has an internal temperature of approx. -11°C /12°F if you have a thermometer), you can transfer it to another container and store it in the freezer or serve it directly from the freezer bowl.

After churning, the frozen yogurt has a soft-serve ice cream consistency and melts immediately upon contact with anything, making it too messy to serve or transfer to another container.

Putting it in the freezer after churning sets it and brings it to the right consistency, making it scoopable and easy to serve or transfer to another container for storage.

Storing and serving

Storing: Place it in the freezer for one month, covering it well to prevent it from absorbing the freezer’s smells. 

Scooping: Like all artisanal frozen yogurt, this ice cream freezes hard in the long term. To make it perfectly scoopable again, put it in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes until soft or until its internal temperature reads -11°C / 12°F.

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