Health food: Frozen yoghurt

What is it?

Frozen yoghurt, of course. At its best, it's simply refreshing and refreshingly simple: just yoghurt, fresh fruit and something to sweeten it. At its worst, it's sickly sweet and pumped full of stabilisers and artificial colourings. Trend-wise, it first appeared in the 1970s and has run hot and cold every decade since. One minute, there's a fro yo on every street corner with a cute name and a queue outside; the next, they're all mobile phone stores. Now it seems the future of frozen yoghurt depends on it being part of the wider trend for locally sourced, quality food.

Where is it?

Fro yo's spiritual home is Bondi Beach, where former investment banker Cass Spies opened her first Twisted Frozen Yoghurt. Spies is now branching out into pop-up events and a premium supermarket line as well as adding superfood acai bowls, protein shakes and smoothies to her fro yo line-up. "People enjoy eating real, natural yoghurt because it leaves them feeling lighter than ice-cream," she says. Spies is relieved that the original commercial-quality fro yo craze is melting away. "It was heartbreaking to see so much cheap, sugary yoghurt out there."

Melbourne's all-day, self-serve Yo-Chi chain owner Manny Stul agrees that the future of fro yo lies in it being good for you rather than bad. "Even our vegan coconut and almond milk yoghurts are naturally fermented," he says, noting that the way we eat frozen yoghurt is also changing. "Our customers use it as an anytime snack," he says. "They'll have it with muesli and fruit mid-morning or drizzled in caramel sauce as an after dinner treat."

Why do I care?

Because good fro yo is just like eating yoghurt and fresh fruit, only more fun.

Can I do it at home?

Totally. And while you won't get the same Mr Whippy texture at home, you'll at least know what's in it.

Mango passionfruit fro yo

Vary the amount of sweetener according to the fruit you use (more for tart raspberries; less for ripe banana).

2 mangoes

2 tbsp honey or agave syrup

200g thick plain yoghurt, chilled

pulp of 1 passionfruit

1. Cut the "cheeks" off the mangoes and chop the flesh, discarding skin – you should have around 200 grams.

2. Place the yoghurt, honey and mango in a high-speed blender and whiz until smooth and creamy. Transfer to an ice-cream machine and churn until set (about 20 minutes), or freeze in a shallow container and use a strong fork to break up any crystals once an hour, for three hours. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe into small glasses or bowls and serve immediately as soft-serve, or refreeze for one hour for a firmer result. Top with passionfruit pulp and serve.

Makes 2 big, 4 small

SOURCING

VIC
Yo-Chi, 292 Carlisle Street, Balaclava, , yochi.com.au (Also in Carlton, Hawthorn and Yarraville)

NSW
Twisted Frozen Yoghurt, 36 Hall Street, Bondi Beach, , twistedyoghurt.com.au (Also at Broadway, Westfield Bondi Junction and Hornsby, and selected Woolworths, Thomas Dux and Harris Farm stores)