I’ve been having a lot of fun growing Roman chamomile this season. I acquired a scraggly plant for a song late last summer and got a few flowers from it. Because it is Roman chamomile, rather than the German variety, it is perennial, so as sure as the sun rises, this year it’s been producing its lovely pineapple-scented flowers very nicely.
So here we are—it’s summer. Even better, I just got a brand new freezer, and you can bet the first thing I did was put my ice cream maker bowl into it to get it ready for some good times.
I’ve made a lot of ice cream over the past 12 years, but I’ve never attempted frozen yogurt until now. It’s a bit tricky since it has a lot of water (a.k.a. whey), so if that’s not remedied, it turns out icy and hard as a rock instead of creamy.
Several years ago, I tried freezing a cup of yogurt, but the results were very unappetizing, so I would not try it again.
A couple of things can help with that. One is to get the highest-fat yogurt you can find. I like this one. Creamy ice cream needs fat to freeze properly, and so does frozen yogurt. Another thing is to get as much watery whey out of it as possible, and you can do that by straining it with cheesecloth and a strainer at least overnight.
Frozen treats also need sugar to freeze properly; frozen yogurt is no exception. I used honey as the main sweetener because the flavor goes so well with chamomile, but I added some sugar to make sure it would freeze well, but not so much that I couldn’t taste the yogurt’s tang.
Adding just a touch of something alcoholic also helps, but that’s totally optional. I added a tablespoon of gin because I wanted the chamomile flavor to shine. Vodka would work just as well.
This is one of those recipes that can be made over several days, so if you want to try making frozen yogurt, you’ll want to plan ahead.
You will need an ice cream machine for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1-½ cups plain full-fat yogurt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 Tbsp white sugar
- ¼ cup dried chamomile flowers (or tea)
- 1 Tbsp vodka or gin (optional)
- Bee pollen and fresh chamomile flowers for garnish (optional)
Line a large strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth that overlap the top. Place the strainer over a bowl large enough that it will be suspended over it. Spoon the yogurt into the strainer and cover it with the overlapping cheesecloth and/or a piece of plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator and allow the yogurt to release its liquid for at least 24 hours and up to 48.
When ready to make the frozen yogurt, pour the milk and cream into a large saucepan with the honey, sugar, and chamomile flowers. Over medium heat, warm the cream mixture just until it is steaming, stirring to help dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and allow the flowers to infuse the milk for about an hour.
Strain the chamomile flowers out of the cream/milk mixture and return it to the pan. Discard the flowers.
Whisk the strained yogurt into the cream/milk mixture until you smooth the yogurt lumps out. Pour it into a container large enough to refrigerate to chill overnight.
Once fully chilled, process with the ice cream freezer according to manufacturer instructions. Place in the freezer until it reaches the desired consistency. I froze this one overnight, and it turned out perfect.
If desired, serve with bee pollen, honey, and/or additional chamomile flowers. Makes about 6 servings.
