Yoghurt ice cream variations

The weather this week came like a surprise: heatwave in autumnal London with temperatures reaching 29°C and marking a record high for October in this country. What better way to celebrate this than with homemade ice cream. Since I have a new little helper in the shape of an ice cream machine my life is made so easy. Mix your ingredients together and pour into the chilled bowl, 20 minutes later you have a perfectly smooth ice cream thanks to it being constantly churned. I love it! The ice cream maker was a gift for my birthday but I had always wanted one, since I was a kid. Not sure why I never got one myself but it may be because I didn't think I could justify it using up precious space in my tiny kitchen cupboards or maybe because it felt too much of an indulgence. Anyway, I am glad I have one now and have been busy making all sorts of ice cream since then.
As I like keeping things simple I have tried variations of yoghurt based ice cream. It is very low in fat so even healthy. For a dessert. The other variation I tried is with coconut milk and that worked very well too. I added toasted coconut flakes for some extra texture. Very nice. And the other variation I tried was a salted pistachio ice cream. If you like salted caramel this one could be for you.

BLACKBERRY FROZEN YOGHURT

500g yoghurt
100g caster sugar
150ml blackberry juice

Mix all the ingredients together and place in the ice cream maker for about 20 minutes or according to instructions for your machine. If doing by hand place the mixture in the freezer and take out about every half an hour and churn by hand and place in the freezer again and repeat the process until frozen.

TOASTED COCONUT ICE CREAM

400ml coconut milk
100g yoghurt
handful desiccated coconut

Gently toast the desiccated coconut in a hot pan or under the grill in your oven until slightly brown. Let cool down and add to the coconut milk. Mix all the ingredients together and place in the ice cream maker for about 20 minutes or according to instructions for your machine. If doing by hand place the mixture in the freezer and take out about every half an hour and churn by hand and place in the freezer again and repeat the process until frozen.

SALTED PISTACHIO ICE CREAM

250ml cream
250g yoghurt
150g salted pistachios
100g caster sugar

In a pestle and mortar crush the pistachios finely. Mix the cream, yoghurt, sugar and add the pistachios. Place in the ice cream maker for about 20 minutes or according to instructions for your machine. If doing by hand place the mixture in the freezer and take out about every half an hour and churn by hand and place in the freezer again and repeat the process until frozen.