I'm a huge huge fan of Frozen Yogurts (Froyos), here in Manila it's becoming quite popular. Froyo shops are popping up everywhere. The most popular ones are White Hat, California Berry and just recently Red Mango.
Last December I got a chance to try White Hat while I was doing my cristmas shopping and I like it. It's light and airy and very creamy just like eating premium ice cream. And quite recently about few months ago, there's this new Frozen yogurt stall that opened up near our office in Makati which is the California Berry, my officemates and I are all so excited since we all love eating yogurt so we walk 4-5 blocks just to get there and it was such a disappointment. I found too tangy! It's like in your face yogurt. Don't get me wrong I love yogurt, but their version is not something I'm gonna craave for in the near future.
I would never dream of making my own Froyos ever I've seen so many recipes that seem so tedious to do with such a long list of ingredients like cornstarch, milk and it seems not worth all the effort. Then I stumbled upon Heidi's blog saying this version is better than Pinkberry's a very popular frozen yogurt store in California and I've read so many people, celebrities raving about it so I wanted to give it a try. But as life gets in the way, work piles up and I've actually forgotten to try this version for TWO WHOLE YEARS!

This year is different though, with the economic crisis, very very HOT summer, I've decided to unearth this recipe and make my own Froyos in the comforts of my kitchen. After my recent success with the Malted Milk Ice Cream, I just knew that I have to dry David's version of Frozen Yogurt, not only because he's David and wrote a very popular book The Perfect Scoop which by the way I'm searching everywhere for to no avail (hint hint, my birthday is coming up, hahaha...). It's because this recipe have only THREE ingredients and such a breeze to make, just drain, wait, mix, wait, curn, freeze, scoop & eat! How easy is that.
I think the only hard thing about this recipe is the gathering of ingredients, because sometimes our local brand plain yogurt is not available in the suppermarket aisle. This week I got luck and have my 3 huge tubs of yogurt, I quickly went home and started making this. At first I thought the amount of yogurt is way too much, it might not fit inside me ice cream maker. I didn't realized that there was so much water in yogurt that after an overnight of draining almost half of my yogurt mixture was drained away. I was left with this thick cream like consistency of a yogurt. I quickly mixed in the sugar and covered it with cling folm and let it rest in the fridge while I went to work. Sunday afternoon, churning time!!! 20 minutes later... Tadah! I have soft served Frozen Yogurt. I let it firm up a bit in the freezer and had it for dessert. It's soft and very easy to scoop out, smells vanilla-y too! I topped it with the left over blueberry filling that I used to topped my cheesecake experiment. The creaminess of the Froyos goes well with the goey blueberry filling, it's not tangy and it's not sweet, just the right amount. Are you a Froyo lover like me? If so you REALLY REALLY have to give this a try and enjoy!

Homemade Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop

• 3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2. 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.