Pittsburgh has a new yogurt joint called “karmic yogurt,” based on the Pinkberry style of frozen yogurt—two flavors, plain and green tea, with tons of fresh toppings. I sprung my niece out of Carnegie Mellon this week and it was the highlight of our food run. Do you have a “do it at home” recipe that comes close to that wonderful, fresh, tart flavor of the plain yogurt they offer?
There seem to be two schools of thought on recreating Pinkberry for home consumption—one version keeps things mostly yogurt, and the other mixes in additional acids to boost the flavor profile. I was leaning toward simplicity, but I had to try both to see what was more accurate. I test these things rigorously for you folks, you know.
The easier recipe, which was simply yogurt and sugar blended and frozen, was too thick and plainly sweet; it didn’t really replicate the tartness and granular texture that you get with a Pinkberry.
The following recipe, adapted from Gourmet, is a bit more work, but the results are much more on the mark. Note that the lower the fat content in your yogurt, the more bricklike it will become over time in the freezer. I used 0 percent Chobani and it was pretty tough to chip off a bowl after a week or so. If you’re planning to keep your batch around for a while, I recommend upping your fat content to at least 2 percent.
And don’t be afraid of the corn syrup mixture. It does sweeten and mellow the flavor, but the buttermilk/lemon combo keeps that tangy freshness right at the forefront. If the green tea flavor is more your thing, add 2 tbsp matcha (Japanese green tea powder)
I’ve been eating my homemade Pinkberry with pomegranate seeds because I’m a superfan of tart desserts—they add a great textural crunch to your bowl as well.
Homemade Pinkberry
Total time: 20 minutes plus freezing time
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt (Fage or Chobani are perfect)
- 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (must be fresh; don’t give me that bottled crap)
Method:
Bring sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/4 cup water to a bare simmer over med-low heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a large bowl and cool about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, buttermilk, and lemon juice, and whisk into the sugar mixture. Refrigerate until cold, 6-8 hours.
Freeze in your ice cream maker and transfer to a separate bowl to harden in the freezer for at least four hours.
Now that I’m officially freelance, I have lots of time to answer your amazing questions. Kitchen tinkering is the best time-waster! You know the drill: Ask Casey at [email protected].
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A buttermilk-yogurt combo is truly a hard pair to beat, right? And over a few fresh peaches… now we’re in business.
Pinkberry is my all time favorite. I always said it tasted like it had buttermilk in it and when I saw this recipe I knew it would come very close to the taste I love. It was right on the mark. My family finished off the whole batch. I can’t wait to try mixing in some other flavors like mango and passion fruit.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I used 4 tablespoons of corn syrup and instead of sugar I used stevia drops. It was so good I couldn’t wait the 4 hours for it to get hard in the freezer. YUMMY!
So wait…you consider bottled lemom juice to be “crap” yet you use corn syrup in your frozen yogurt?? Um, next…..
Jane, I use corn syrup (which, by the way, is not the same thing as high fructose corn syrup) in frozen yogurt to give the finished dish a creamier consistency. If you prefer not to use it, you’re more than welcome to leave it out of your recipe, but there’s really no need to be insulting about my inclusion of that ingredient.
I make the brick-like no fat kind but never in huge amounts, so say 500 grams of plain no fat Greek yogurt. I just take it out of the freezer to the fridge for an hour scoop it out and put it back and doing that two or three times have never had a problem with ice crystals, it is still smooth even refrozen. You also could use Boyajian oil if you want citrus, I use their oils for everything now and get raves with tarte au citron and such.
I will try your recipe because I love buttermilk!
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