Homemade Frozen Yogurt with Maple and Lavender
Half-and-half infused with dried culinary lavender for five minutes, sweetened with maple syrup and whisked into whole-milk Greek yogurt with a splash of bourbon. The bourbon is what keeps it scoopable rather than setting into a block of ice.
Ingredients
The Lavender Maple Infusion
- 3/4 cup half-and-half
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender loosely packed
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup grade A dark for the strongest flavor
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
To Finish the Base
- 2 cups whole-milk Greek yogurt not 2 percent and not fat free
- 1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon keeps the finished batch scoopable
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Infuse and Sweeten
- Bring the half-and-half just to a simmer in a small pot, take it straight off the heat, stir in the lavender and leave it to steep for exactly 5 minutes. Any longer and it turns bitter.
- Strain the buds out through a fine mesh sieve, pressing gently rather than wringing, then whisk in the maple syrup and the salt and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Chill the Base
- Whisk the cooled maple mixture into the Greek yogurt with the bourbon and vanilla until completely smooth, with no streaks of thick yogurt left.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, until the base is thoroughly cold. This is what decides the texture, so do not shorten it.
Churn and Freeze
- Churn the cold base in an ice cream maker for 20 to 25 minutes, until it thickens to soft serve, holds the ridges of the paddle and starts to climb the sides of the bowl.
- Scrape it into a chilled shallow container, press parchment or plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and freeze for 3 to 4 hours until it is firm enough to scoop.
- Soften at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving if it has been in the freezer overnight.
Notes
Use whole-milk Greek yogurt. The original called for 2 percent and froze noticeably icier; fat and protein are the only things standing between you and large ice crystals.
Steep the lavender off the heat and no longer than 5 minutes. Boiled or over-steeped, it turns bitter and soapy and there is no way back. Buy culinary lavender from a spice merchant, never ornamental lavender from a florist.
The base must be genuinely cold before churning, so give it 4 hours or overnight. A lukewarm base churns for forty minutes, never sets and beats in air that makes it grainy.
Do not stop at the churn. Straight from the machine it is soft serve; it needs 3 to 4 hours in the freezer to scoop.
Storage: press wrap onto the surface, use a shallow container, and eat within about 2 weeks. Never refreeze a fully melted batch.
Contains alcohol, roughly half a teaspoon per serving.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 58mg | Potassium: 262mg | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 220IU | Calcium: 186mg