Taro Ice Cream

A wonderful phenomenon has been happening around my neck of the woods lately: frozen yogurt shops are popping up everywhere.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I absolutely love frozen yogurt. My two favorite snacks are frozen yogurt and popcorn. Not together, of course…and definitely not microwave popcorn. That doesn’t even count in my book.

One of my favorite spots is Yumilicious. It really does live up to its name. They have what feels like a hundred different flavors, and because it’s self-serve, you can mix and match to your heart’s content. They also have an impressive topping bar, but I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to frozen yogurt (and ice cream, for that matter). I like mine plain so I can actually taste the flavor.

One flavor they almost always carry is purple taro, and it’s become one of my favorites. Taro is a starchy root vegetable that’s popular throughout Asia and the Caribbean. In Cuba, we know it as malanga, though the varieties we’re most familiar with are usually white rather than purple. The flavor is very similar, so I decided to use purple taro to see if I could recreate my favorite frozen yogurt at home.

The result? Delicious—but not quite what I expected.

Ingredients

2½ cups taro root, peeled and cut into cubes
1½ cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1 cup plain yogurt
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the cream, milk, and cubed taro. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the taro is fork tender.

Strain the milk and cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing gently on the taro to extract as much flavor as possible. Taro is naturally very starchy, so a nonstick saucepan works especially well for the next step.

Return the infused milk and cream to the stove. Add the sugar and salt, stirring over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and whisk in the yogurt until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Once thoroughly chilled, churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

A Little Side Note

This frozen yogurt turned out wonderfully creamy and had a delicate taro flavor, but it didn’t taste exactly like the purple taro frozen yogurt from the shop that inspired it.

My theory is that many frozen yogurt shops use taro flavoring rather than fresh taro root—kind of like how artificial grape flavor tastes completely different from actual grapes. Both are delicious in their own way, but they’re definitely not the same.

Even though it wasn’t an exact copycat recipe, I was really happy with how this one turned out. It has a much more subtle, natural taro flavor, and I’d happily make it again.