Yogurt drink
Drinking yogurt is a terrific drink for autumn — it tastes fresh, contains probiotic bacteria and makes a great dessert or a quick snack, not only during autumn. But during this time of the year it is especially important to keep the natural defense high against viruses and bacteria, and yoghurt is a superb ally in that! Did I mention it tastes great? ;-)
This recipe came to life when I was left with no fresh milk after a short travel — I had only one mini-bottle of a drinkable probiotic yogurt and some condensed milk for coffee (sic!). But against all odds, it worked out!
Step #1: Ingredients
- 1 mini bottle of a probiotic yogurt (e.g. Actimel or Yakult, anything with Lactobacillus Casei is okay),
- 320ml of condensed 7.5% fat milk,
- lukewarm water to full the yogurt container up to 1 liter.
Optionally, if you by chance didn't fail to buy milk, you can replace condensed milk with water with milk (can be raw, pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized)!
Step #2: Utensils
- Mixing bowl of a pitcher,
- yogurt maker or a pot with thermostat.
Step #3: Mix the yogurt starter (2 minutes)
Mix mini-bottle of probiotic yogurt with lukewarm milk (optimal temperature is between 40-42°C, don't exceed 45°C in which bacteria will be killed) or with the condensed milk and water mixture.
Step #4: Keep the temperature and wait (about 8 hours)
Yogurt is made by bacteria growing in the milk and slowly transforming it into yogurt — you need to help them, by maintaining optimal temperature of 42-45°C for 5-10 hours. Simply fill the yogurt maker with the yogurt mixture, turn on and let it sit undisturbed — I would really recommend buying a simple yogurt maker, which costs around 17€ and is very energy efficient, at about 9W of power consumption (less than most energy efficient lightbulbs!)
Step #5: Cool down (about 1 hour)
Warm yogurt is a bad yogurt — before eating, you need to mix it thoroughly and cool it down. Then add your favorite toppings (e.g. fruit, syrups, grains), mix again, and cool down for at least 1 hour.