Frozen Yogurt N° 55

Waldorf Frozen Yogurt

Name: Waldorf Frozen Yogurt
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1440 min
Total time: 1460 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American · Italian Method
Ingredients: Whole Greek yogurt — 280 g; Light cream cheese — 50 g; Granny Smith apple with skin, diced — 60 g; Wildflower honey — 45 g; Granulated sugar — 30 g; 100% lemon juice — 15 g; Fresh raw celery stalk — 8 g; Lemon zest — 3 g; Guar gum — 2.5 g; Sunflower lecithin — 2 g; Ground cinnamon — 2 g; Fine salt — 1 g; Total ≈ 498.5 g; Sultanas or fresh Muscat grapes — 30-40 g; Toasted walnuts, chopped — 20-30 g

Inspired by New York's most famous salad · 1893

The Waldorf salad was born at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in 1893: green apples, celery, walnuts, grapes, creamy dressing. A signature creation by Oscar Tschirky that has crossed 130 years of culinary fashion. We turn it into frozen yogurt. When you taste it you feel them all — the vegetal crunch of celery at the back, the tart apple on top, toasted walnuts in the mix-ins, grapes bursting with juice. A dessert that tells an American story with Italian technique.

Servings

Active time

20 min

Total time

24.5h

Machine

Tefal / Moulinex Dolci · Ninja Creami Deluxe

Ingredients

For Tefal / Moulinex Dolci (500 ml)

Whole Greek yogurt — 280 g
Light cream cheese — 50 g
Granny Smith apple with skin, diced — 60 g
Wildflower honey — 45 g
Granulated sugar — 30 g
100% lemon juice — 15 g
Fresh raw celery stalk — 8 g
Lemon zest — 3 g
Guar gum — 2.5 g
Sunflower lecithin — 2 g
Ground cinnamon — 2 g
Fine salt — 1 g
Total ≈ 498.5 g

For Ninja Creami Deluxe (710 ml)

Whole Greek yogurt — 392 g
Light cream cheese — 70 g
Granny Smith apple with skin — 84 g
Wildflower honey — 63 g
Granulated sugar — 42 g
100% lemon juice — 21 g
Fresh raw celery stalk — 11 g
Lemon zest — 4 g
Guar gum — 3.5 g
Sunflower lecithin — 2.8 g
Cinnamon — 2.8 g
Salt — 1.4 g

Mix-in after spin (Dolci)

Sultanas or fresh Muscat grapes — 30-40 g
Toasted walnuts, chopped — 20-30 g

Mix-in after spin (Ninja)

Sultanas or fresh Muscat grapes — 42-56 g
Toasted walnuts, chopped — 28-42 g

Procedure

Dry-mix in a bowl: granulated sugar, guar gum, sunflower lecithin, ground cinnamon. Guar mixed with sugar won't clump — that's the trick to dissolve it properly in liquids.
Dice the Granny Smith apple with its skin (about 1 cm cubes). Dice the celery stalk into small pieces.
In the blender: whole Greek yogurt, light cream cheese, diced apple, diced celery, wildflower honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, fine salt.
Add the pre-mixed powders (step 1). Blend 40-60 seconds at medium-high speed until smooth uniform cream. No lumps.
Pour into the container: Tritan bowl (Dolci) or pint (Ninja). Level the surface. Without lid. Flat in the freezer.
24 hours at -18°C. Patience is part of the technique.
Run the FROZEN YOGURT program on Dolci (dedicated button) or equivalent on Ninja Creami Deluxe.
After the spin, add sultanas or fresh Muscat grapes and toasted chopped walnuts on top. Run the MIX-IN program.
Not creamy after the first spin? Add 2 tablespoons of whole milk on top, level, and run RE-SPIN. Then mix-in.
Serve immediately at -8/-10°C: extra dusting of cinnamon on top and a few pieces of fresh apple for decoration.

Technical Balance

Total Solids	~32%
Fats	~5%
MSNF (milk solids)	~9.4%
Sugars	~21% (honey + sugar + lactose + fruit)
PAC	~280 (high-PAC honey)
Stabilizers	Guar 0.5% + lecithin + yogurt proteins
Alcohol	0%

⚠ Technical Notes

Granny Smith with skin is mandatory: the skin brings natural pectin and fiber that help the frozen yogurt structure. A sweet apple (Golden, Red Delicious) makes everything flat, monotone. Granny Smith's tartness is needed to balance the honey.
Celery stalk at 8 g (not celeriac/celery root): we're talking about classic white-green celery stalks (Apium graveolens var. dulce), like the original Waldorf salad. NOT celeriac/celery root (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum), which has a completely different earthy flavor. At 8 g celery is a background note, not the protagonist. You feel it as vegetal freshness that balances the honey without screaming "celery". Don't increase the dose.
Walnuts: toast them in a dry skillet 3-4 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Let them cool, then break them coarsely (don't grind them). You want the crunch under the tooth, not powder.
Light cream cheese: for emulsion and extra creaminess. The "full fat" version works but raises total fat. Light keeps the balance light as a frozen yogurt should be.
Mix-ins after, never before freezing: grapes and walnuts placed in the liquid base turn into hard ice chunks during the 24 hours. They go in after the spin, when the product is already creamy.