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Make your own fro-yo

By Alexis Korman | Special to amNewYork

4:38 PM EDT, June 3, 2008

Frozen yogurts and gelati at Yolato. (Dave Sanders)

With so many new fro-yo shops in town -- Yolato, Pinkberry, and Red Mango among them -- it seems clear that more and more New Yorkers are treating themselves to the tasty ice cream alternative.

We sat down with Tony Park, the good humored, Vespa-riding entrepreneur and co-creator of Yolato, the wildly popular chain of brightly colored fro-yo shops, to get the dish on his delicious frozen yogurt, an easy DIY recipe for an at-home fro-yo party (a simple ice cream maker will do), and a few suggestions for toppings.

How did you get into the fro-yo game? I wanted to do a frozen yogurt place, and my best friend, he wanted to do a gelato place We combined it -- we thought, what if we made the gelato with frozen yogurt, Instead of using the heavy creams and eggs and so forth? We bought an existing Italian ice cream store, and changed the interior, changed the recipe, and added the gelato recipe. Then we started taking ingredients out; we started to play with the sweeteners to make it healthier, and that's what we have here. We have a wonderful product.

What are your favorite flavors/toppings? Plain yogurt with pomegranate seeds, when we have them in season. Ferrero Rocher (an Italian chocolate), and mango. Right now it's summer, and we have watermelon but it's kind of weird! [laughter]. Lychee is another one. You see, all the toppings are fresh, everything is made fresh each morning in the store, and we mix the gelato every morning, like in Italy!

What are your suggestions for readers creating toppings at home? Another topping would be the granola we use, it's very fresh and chunky make sure you get one that is very fresh or organic. Also, blueberries when they are fresh and in season. But blueberries are expensive! We can't afford to have blueberries all the time in our store!

Who develops the flavors? Francisco Barros, he develops the flavors, and the recipes. We're both Italian, we love to eat! I may look Asian, but I'm Italian. I'm Italian on the inside, where it counts!

Homemade Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
1/2 teaspoon guar gum (available in health-food stores and online)
10 1/2 ounces skim milk
Optional: fruit concentrates
Place the sugar, yogurt and guar gum in a food processor. Start the mixer and slowly pour in the milk and process until everything is well mixed.
Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream maker; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Depending on the machine it will take 20 -- 30 minutes.

Yolato opened in 2006 in New Jersey and quickly moved to New York. In addition to low-fat, low-calorie soft-serve yogurt, there are more than 100 gelato flavors available on a rotating basis, including pumpkin pie, Nutella, pistachio, and strawberry cheesecake. Toppings change seasonally, and include fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango, lychee, and blackberries. Nuts, granola and cereals, such as cheerios, Fruit Lloops, and Captain Ccrunch are also available at most stores.

Current locations in NYC:

125 Park Ave. (42nd Street); 212-922-1169

168 W. 27th St. (Seventh Avenue); 212-366-5960

2286 Broadway (at 82nd Street); 212-580-1635

120 MacDougal St. (West. 3rd Street); 212-228-6303

416 Sixth Ave (at Ninth Street); 212-353-3682