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I live in the South where the summers are very long, very hot, and very humid.
Since I try to use my oven as little as possible during these months, I often
turn to frozen desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth. One frozen dessert my family
enjoys is this enticing caramel colored and caramel flavored Dulce de Leche Frozen
Yogurt. It is light and sweet, yet refreshingly tangy. It can be served plain or
it is very nice with a drizzling of chocolate sauce (recipe
here) and a sprinkling of chopped nuts.
This Dulce de Leche Frozen Yogurt resembles ice cream in texture and it is
made like ice cream (that is - churned in an ice cream machine). But
unlike ice creams that have a custard base, this frozen yogurt just stirs
together plain yogurt, cream, milk, and Dulce de Leche. Now, the texture
of frozen yogurt depends on the type of plain yogurt used. If you use
'whole milk' plain yogurt, the texture of the frozen yogurt will be quite
thick, like ice cream. If, on the other hand, you use a 'low fat' plain
yogurt, the texture of the frozen yogurt will be like soft serve
ice cream. However, one way to use low fat yogurt, yet still have a
thicker frozen yogurt, is to drain the yogurt first to remove some of its
liquid. Do this by putting the yogurt in a cheesecloth lined strainer that has been placed
over a large bowl. Put it in the refrigerator and allow the yogurt to
drain for several hours, or preferably overnight. Of course, the health
benefits of yogurt have long been known. It is a good source of calcium and
Vitamin B, as well as helping our digestive and immune systems. Its flavor
is quite tangy and its texture light, which balances the sweet, rich,
thick and creamy texture of the Dulce de Leche. Dulce de Leche (pronouced
DOOL-say day LAY-chay) is a thick, rich and sweet, caramel flavored and
colored cream that is made by cooking sugar and cow's or goat milk
until it is thick and caramel colored. Dulce de Leche means "sweet of milk" or "milk candy"
and it is very popular in Mexico, Central America and South America. It is
also known as cajeta, arequipe, manjar or manjur, and doce de leite. You
can make your own or it is
sold in cans, jars, or tubs and can oftentimes be found in grocery stores
or else in Latin markets.
This recipe is one I adapted from Emily Luchetti's excellent book "A
Passion for Ice Cream". |
