Banana Split Quark Yogurt: Guest Author Melinda Cobb

Melinda doesn’t think this picture is going to make y’all hungry, but we all know she’s wrong, and we’re grateful for her ability to stimulate our post-holiday appetites!

This is a really cool recipe from community member Melinda Cobb! Melinda is a culinary arts student and always has really excellent questions and ideas, which of course makes my teacher heart exceedingly happy. I’m hoping she’ll put this recipe on her CV, too, so she’s got an early publishing credit! Thanks, Melinda, for sharing this recipe with us!

Melinda said, after I asked if she’d be open to sharing this recipe with the whole community,

I would be happy to share my recipe with your blog. It is still a little bit of a work in progress, as I have been playing around with a recipe that I got out of the Junket rennet box. I’m not even sure if the rennet is necessary, but I keep putting it in so I can finish up the box. I was a little conservative with the quark the first time since I wasn’t sure how we would like it. I used mesophilic quark, but I may try the thermophilic next time and add it right after the rennet (I added it after it cooled the first time so I could preserve as much of the live culture as I could). For the chocolate, I used Mi Amere dark pistoles. I do most of my measuring by weight (in grams), but I will convert it as best I can. I call it Banana Split Quark Ice Cream only because, it is slightly less busy than Banana Chocolate Nut Quark Ice Cream. Feel free to change the name or recipe as you see fit.

I’m definitely not changing the name, but y’all can call this Thing of Wonder whatever you want! I also think it’s really cool that she’s using the Junket rennet. I’ve been curious about that, but have always been told it’s not good for cheese-making so I never bought it. But it’s good for ice cream! Don’t know about y’all, but this is all new life goals for me, since I live with people who’ll eat ice cream as often as possible!

Here’s what you’ll need

3 rennet tablets

1 1/4 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups quark (made with whole milk)

3 medium bananas, mashed

1 ¾ oz chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 oz nuts, coarsely chopped

Here’s what you’ll do

Dissolve rennet in 2 tbs cold water; set aside. Combine milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Heat to 110°F. Pour into storage or freezing container and lightly stir in rennet. Let stand for 10 minutes, then refrigerate until cold. Add quark, banana, chocolate, and nuts just before freezing. Makes about 2 quarts.

Allie note: if you don’t have an ice cream maker, there are other methods you can use!