There it sat.
The very last jar of blackberry jam from last year's wild blackberries. It was sooooooo good. I kept trying to think of something sort of noble to do with that last jar. Something amazing…. something delicious.
And then I did.
No, no I didn't eat it up with a spoon. Though that would have been delicious also….

I made homemade Blackberry Frozen Yogurt.
We've been making half gallon batches of yogurt for quite awhile and I have loved the ease of the culture on the counter variety we purchased here. No need to scald the milk first or use a yogurt maker, just add the starter culture to the cold milk & leave it on the counter overnight. So easy!
This frozen yogurt recipe is more tutorial then exact measurements. Feel free to change things around, I'm sure it will be delicious no matter what you try!

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt (makes about 2 quarts)
2 quarts (1/2 gallon) of plain whole milk yogurt
1 pint of jam
1 cup of sugar
1/2 c reserved whey or water
First you need to strain your yogurt. If you buy store bought yogurt you can skip this step. However, homemade yogurt tends to be more loose and I strained about 2-3 cups of liquid (whey) from our yogurt. To do this I lined a fine mesh colander with a piece of cotton cloth (like a cloth napkin), poured the yogurt into it and let it drip into a bowl underneath the strainer. I covered it & let it sit for about and hour or so until it was closer to a soft-ish sour cream consistency. The whey can be used for lacto-fermenting or poured into your compost.
Next you need to make a simple syrup. I used 1/2 cup of the whey and 1 cup of sugar and simmered it until the sugar dissolved and the mixture was a light syrup. You can use water in place of the whey. Making a simple syrup makes the frozen yogurt creamier than just adding sugar to it. Honey could also be used.
Add the jam to your strained yogurt and mix well. Add the simple syrup a little at a time to sweeten it to your taste. We ended up using all of it for ours as the blackberry jam was on the tart side and the result was a tart-sweet yogurt. A bit sweet for breakfast, but not nearly as sweet as ice cream.

Chill the yogurt for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator and then follow the directions on your ice cream maker to make the frozen yogurt. Our favorite ice cream maker is the old fashioned crank style, ours is just like this one. If there are any leftovers, it can be stored in an airtight container in your freezer. For best scoopability it's best to let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to soften up before scooping.


This is definitely our new favorite ice cream. And my two little ones are insistent that both their ice cream cones be in this post. So, here they are…..


Yum, right??
Enjoy!