One of the many reasons we love Pinkberry is because of its many fabulous toppings, such as daily cut fresh fruit. Now, they've added white and milk chocolate shavings. Unlike many yogurt places that use stale chocolate chips, Pinkberry cuts shavings of fresh Belgian chocolate. The chocolate perfectly balances Pinkberry's three tangy flavors: Original, Pomegranate, and Green Tea.
The timing of the addition of this topping is perfect! Just in time for Valentine's Day, chocolate lovers can take their significant others to Pinkberry for some rich chocolate mixed in with smooth luscious yogurt. Pinkberry doesn't gratuitously add new flavors. When you try the chocolate, one of the first things you'll notice is its amazing quality.
A combo that I recommend is the original flavor topped with chocolate shavings, strawberries, and blueberries. Or, if you feeling like escaping to the Caribbean, try the original flavor with both white and milk chocolate shavings and coconut. If you've tried these new chocolate shavings, what were some of your favorite combos?
It may be just 18 degrees Fahrenheit, but that doesn't stop New Yorkers from eating delish lush Pinkberry frozen yogurt. From now until January 10, 2009 (the company's 4th anniversary), Pinkberry will be offering two free toppings when the temperature outside goes down to 18 degrees Fahrenheit indicating their 18 toppings.
This means that today you can go to Pinkberry and get a yogurt with two toppings you've always wanted to try! If only I were in NY today and not in snow covered New Hampshire. So far in NYC, the temperature has gone below 18 degrees a couple of days in a row. Too bad they don't have a store here in Exeter, NH where it's bright and sunny but with a temperature high of just 13 degrees.
What's unique about Pinkberry's toppings? First of all, the fruit is freshly sliced everyday. Most frozen yogurt places use frozen pre-sliced fruits that could be sitting out at the counter for days, maybe weeks. And, besides the fruit, you have the option of some of your favorite childhood cereals, such as captain crunch and fruity pebbles. Really, what more can you ask for?
Ah, the pomegranate choices at Pinkberry...Should I have pomegranate booster over plain frozen yogurt or pomegranate flavored yogurt?
About a month ago, Pinkberry launched their new holiday-inspired flavor: pomegranate. Unlike most flavored frozen yogurt, this one tastes like real yogurt mixed with fresh pieces of pomegranates. The bitterness usually associated with pomegranates is subtle and the sweetness not too overwhelming. After being "in-the-works" for 12 months, pomegranate was launched using 100 percent California pomegranate juice.
Stay healthy this holiday season by consuming Pinkberry's frozen pomegranate yogurt loaded with antioxidents. Pinkberry is also offering a pomegranate booster that's still in development. So, they're not advertising it yet at their stores, but you can ask for one as a topping. Actually, I enjoyed a shot of the pomegranate booster as a topping over their plain flavor more than the pomegranate flavor. I was blown away by the booster's unique syrupy consistency that reminded me of a watered-down balsamic reduction.
Have you tried Pinkberry's pomegranate flavor and/or booster? If so, what do you think? Which one do you like better?
While Pinkberry still hasn't made it to Philadelphia, I managed to grab my first taste of the much-heralded frozen yogurt while I was out in Los Angeles back in September. When I was growing up, some close friends of my parents had their own small chain of frozen yogurt locations (Humphrey Yogart, anyone?), so after years of eating their gourmet yogurt, I came to fancy myself as something of an expert frozen yogurt taster. Because of that, I walked into Pinkberry with a critical mind and high hopes.
While it wasn't anything like what you could get at Humphrey Yogart, I was impressed by the available yogurt flavors and the world of toppings to choose from. I particularly liked the coffee flavor (I like just about anything that tastes like coffee). Sadly, it seems that it was my first and last opportunity to try the coffee yogurt, because as of November 20th, Pinkberry is setting it out to pasture.
If you are a fan of Pinkberry's coffee flavor, make sure to stop by before they lock it away forever in their flavor vault.
With a face like that, could you really deprive your baby of the refreshment that comes from frozen yogurt?
Of course not.
Yoghund is a line of organic frozen yogurt for dogs, with no additives, chemicals, or fillers. I wasn't even aware that yogurt was good for dogs, but i suppose if people can benefit from live cultures, dog can too. The yogurts are made with organic bananas, organic peanuts, and pure spring water. It is not clear whether there are different "flavors," though it seems that it's only one. Whether you can share in this treat with your dog is up to you (I can't imagine that it would be bad for people to eat Yoghund.)
A pack of four cups is $5.99, available from the website.
Without getting a professional machine to keep in your kitchen, there are two main ways of making frozen yogurt. The first method involves making a mixture that is similar to an ice cream base, albeit much lower in fat than a full cream-and-eggs mixture, and churning it in an ice cream maker until the desired consistency is reached. The second method involves a literal translation, where the yogurt is mixed with fruit and frozen. Rianna, from For the Love of Baking, whipped up this Mango Frozen Yogurt using the latter technique and it is bursting with fruit and flavor. Mixing it with fruit is crucial, because yogurt does not usually react all that well to being frozen if you just pop a carton in to the freezer, and the more fruit you use, the better the final product will be. If you don't mind trying something a touch more time consuming, try going for the more traditional version instead.
If you're not down at the boardwalk, it could be a little bit harder to find frozen custard. Though the rich, ice cream-like treat is very popular in some parts of the country, other stands are few and far between. There is a resource available to frozen custard lovers: the CustardList. This website not only has the locations for various custard stands around the country, but maintains a record of what daily flavors are offered at many locations! You can even get this information while you are out driving to the stand, since they have a setup that allows you to access the database of current flavors via a web-enabled cell phone.
To make your search for a stand easier, you can narrow the field by searching by state. Twenty different states have custard stands listed at the moment, and if you know of one that isn't listed, you can submit it to be added.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're going to make ice cream at home, it is worth it to get an ice cream maker. In fact, it is necessary to get an ice cream maker because it ensures that you will always get the optimal results from your frozen desserts. There are a wide range of ice cream makers to choose from, but there will definitely be at least one that fits your kitchen and your budget. After a batch or three of homemade ice cream, every single one will pay for itself in taste alone.
Ice Cream Ball - play with it and make ice cream. It's a great way to give your kids something to keep them occupied while they wait for the ice cream to be ready. $29
Cuisinart 1.5-qt. Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker - a great, easy-to-use all-purpose machine that can handle most family-sized jobs. Keep the extra freezer bowl in the freezer at all times so you're ready to go. Recommended by me (I own this model, pictured, and love it) and America's Test Kitchen. $49.95
After much debate about the sorbet vs. ice cream issue in a post earlier this week, we can conclude that sorbets, by definition, do not contain any milk products. We also know the different fat contents that make the difference between low fat and regular ice creams. But what of other ice cream terms? Here are a couple of handy definitions that should help clear things up:
Sorbet - does not contains dairy; always very light in flavor
Sherbet - almost always has a fruit component, but also must contain dairy to produce a dessert that is lighter than ice cream, but richer than sorbet
Frozen yogurt - contains dairy that has been cultured (though most do not contain active cultures), and is churned to resemble soft ice cream, with a smooth, rich texture.
Ice milk - just like an ice cream, but made with milk rather than cream; a little used term for strict constructionists of the word "ice cream," since most home chefs would say ice cream anyway
Ice cream - must have at least 10% milkfat (or 8% if there is a mix-in) by volume (if sold commercially); may or may not contain eggs
Frozen custard (also called French ice cream) - ice cream that is made with at least 1.4% egg yolks, giving it a richer texture than ordinary ice cream.
Gelato - ice cream with a mixture of milk and sometimes cream in the base, often including eggs. It is churned less than regular ice cream and has less air in the final product, which gives it a dense texture.
I debated over what to name this dessert. The recipe that inspired it was in a recent issue of Cooking Light and was called a sorbet, but I felt that the rich, smooth taste of the dessert did not really fit the sorbet name. To me, sorbet inspires an icier treat and not a creamy one, not to mention the fact that most sorbets contain no dairy products at all. Ice creams usually have cream in them, but I think that in this case we can make an exception because the dessert, Black Cherry Buttermilk Ice Cream, is delicious enough to satisfy any ice cream lover.
A L.A.-based frozen yogurt shop is currently causing locals to wait in very long lines on these very chilly West Coast nights. Located in West Hollywood, Pinkberry serves frozen yogurt that's slightly sour, a little salty, and totally yummy because it's not too sweet. In short, it's frozen yogurt that actually tastes like yogurt (it tastes a lot like very cold, plain Dannon yogurt to me). The yogurt comes in plain or green tea; toppings include fresh fruit and granola. There's talk that Pinkberry will open up more outposts in L.A., but I really hope the chain goes national one day. Simply because Pinkberry needs to save the frozen yogurt/low fat ice cream genre from the evil Tasti-D-Lites of the world! Pinkberry: 868 Huntley Drive, West Hollywood, California, (310) 659-8285.
Revamping frozen novelties, like ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches, into more health-conscious
variations seems like a natural thing to do with summer coming up in just a few short months. After all, it is the time
of year that people start to remember that they are going to have to put on a bathing suit at some point. Yoplait is
releasing a line of Frozen
Yogurt & Cereal Bars and Sandwiches. Though the name sounds like it might be breakfast food, the bar is actually
an ice cream-like frozen yogurt rolled in a crushed cereal coating. This gives the bar a tasty crunch to contrast with
the cool, creamy yogurt. For those people who can't help indulging at breakfast time, it is refreshing to know that the
bars are low fat and contain as much calcium as a glass of milk, have the same live-active culture as yogurt and all the
vitamins and minerals that dry cereals are typically fortified with, including vitamins A, C, D, B6 and B12, as well as
zinc and iron. The bars come in three flavors: Strawberry, Vanilla & Wildberry, and Vanilla & Raspberry. Look
for them in your local supermarket this month!
If you're not down 
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're going to make ice cream at home, it is worth it to get an ice cream maker. In fact, it is necessary to get an ice cream maker because it ensures that you will always get the optimal results from your frozen desserts. There are a wide range of ice cream makers to choose from, but there will definitely be at least one that fits your kitchen and your budget. After a batch or three of homemade ice cream, every single one will pay for itself in taste alone. 
After much debate about the sorbet vs. ice cream issue 
A L.A.-based frozen yogurt shop is currently causing locals to wait in very long lines on these very chilly West Coast nights. Located in West Hollywood, Pinkberry serves frozen yogurt that's slightly sour, a little salty, and totally yummy because it's not too sweet. In short, it's frozen yogurt that actually tastes like yogurt (it tastes a lot like very cold, plain Dannon yogurt to me). The yogurt comes in plain or green tea; toppings include fresh fruit and granola. There's talk that Pinkberry will open up more outposts in L.A., but I really hope the chain goes national one day. Simply because Pinkberry needs to save the frozen yogurt/low fat ice cream genre from the evil Tasti-D-Lites of the world! Pinkberry: 868 Huntley Drive, West Hollywood, California, (310) 659-8285.
Revamping frozen novelties, like ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches, into more health-conscious
variations seems like a natural thing to do with summer coming up in just a few short months. After all, it is the time
of year that people start to remember that they are going to have to put on a bathing suit at some point. Yoplait is
releasing a line of 
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