Homemade yogurt

After buying a Donvier Yogurt Maker early this year, I've only used it three times. I love yogurt, but I fell in love with it, after discovering Greek yogurt. Since that's a little bit pricey for yogurt, I decided to try my hand at making my own. The first batch was okay; the second came out much better than the first. After that, life, as well as my recovery from knee surgery, put the yogurt maker on the back burner. I decided to take it back out of hiding when I saw this recipe. It sounded rich and decadent, as well as very easy to make, as is all yogurt, really.

The first batch was a disaster. I forgot to add the water to the condensed milk – didn't add water at all, since I missed that part of the recipe – and it came out way too thick and nasty-looking. Although the online recipe does not call for a yogurt maker, I decided to use mine, since I have it. Wouldn't have mattered, either way – the recipe wasn't right.

The second batch was much better. At first, I decided to forego the yogurt maker, and I used the pot-on-the-stove method. The problem with that method was that, once the water cooled, the yogurt was still liquid. I was concerned that I might have done something wrong, like heat up the water too much, so I decided to take a risk and put it in the yogurt maker for seven hours. Apparently, that did the trick, since I had nice, perfectly firm yogurt the next morning.

I never thought it would be possible to add condensed milk to a yogurt recipe, but it works, it really does. The one thing I don't like about most yogurt, is its tartness, and I usually add honey to the plain stuff (I'm so over the sugary fruit-on-the-bottom kind). The condensed milk adds a sweetness to it that's not overly sweet, but I don't have to add anything else to it, either. The flavor's velvety smooth. This recipe makes me want to use my yogurt maker over and over again. Next time, I'll try it with fresh fruit.