{Sweet Treats} Frozen Treats for a Summery Day

After what seemed like an endless season of snow, blistery winds, and then torrential downpour, we've finally gotten some warm sunshiney days here in NYC. With a couple days of summery weather, we unintentionally went on a mini frozen treats binge in the city.  Check out our "tour" - which ends with us making our own frozen yogurt at home!

We spotted the Joyride Truck while shopping with visiting friends on the Upper West Side.  At first we were hesitant because they only carried one flavor of frozen yogurt (original plain frozen yogurt made with Greek yogurt). But after being offered a free sample and tasting its light, tangy flavor, my friends had to buy themselves a small cup ($4 plus tax included unlimited toppings).  There's also an option for a "buzzed" frozen yogurt (original with a shot of caffeine) which my husband will likely try the next time we spot the truck.  If you're a coffee lover, the truck also serves Stumptown Coffee (which my husband always enjoys when we're near the Ace Hotel).   

Ever since the Italian-based Grom Gelato came to NYC, we've been hooked.  It's first location was conveniently (and to my waistline, unfortunately) near my first apartment on the Upper West Side.  Their creamy gelato reminded me of my after-college backpacking trip around Italy and eating a daily diet of gelato.  On Easter Sunday, we found ourselves in the West Village and I quieted my frozen treats craving with a small cup of Pear Sorbet and Lemon Sorbet ($4.25).  The pear sorbet tasted like a fresh bartlett pear while the lemon sorbet was tart and refreshing.

When it comes to frozen custards, we're pretty obsessed with Shake Shack.  We love the constant rotation of inventive flavors and our nearby Upper West Side location has an express line (the "C" line) for those times when we don't want to order a burger and fries.  For the best deal, we often ask for "yesterday's pint" - if there are leftovers of the prior day's flavor, Shake Shack will sell you a pint for only $4 (since a small cup will set you back $3.50, the pint is a great value).

To end our Easter Sunday dinner, we bought a pint of Saturday's flavor:  Bacon and Pancakes frozen custard.  This year's version was very different from last year's.  While last year's version had chunks of bacon scattered amongst the creamy pancake (vanilla) frozen custard, this year's version had no chunks and looked like it was all pancake/vanilla custard. Surprisingly, this year's version tasted solely like smokey bacon.  My husband loved it, but because it was so rich and so strong in flavor, I could only eat a spoonful of it (which is saying a lot since I've been known to finish a pint of ice cream all by myself!)

After all of the frozen treats sampling throughout the city, I wanted to make my own frozen yogurt at home.  Luckily, I had bought 2 large tubs of Fage Greek yogurt on sale and had to use them up.  I used a recipe by David Lebovitz (from his book The Perfect Scoop) that was found on 101cookbooks.com.

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt (adapted from the recipe found on 101cookbooks.com)

Ingredients
  about 3 cups Fage 2% Greek yogurt (1 1/2 of the 17.6 oz tubs)
1/2 cup sugar (I used less sugar than the original recipe's 3/4 cup)
1 t pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Churn with your ice cream maker (We use the Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt & Sorbet Maker)
3. Serve with your favorite toppings.