Cole's Creamery Yogurt

YOGURT RECIPE

Cheesemaking.com has an abundance of information about making yogurt.  I basically use their recipe, with a few minor changes.  

Step 1 Heat any amount of milk you desire, but remember you need to add:

2 tablespoons of plain yogurt to culture/ 1 quart of milk

I use plain Fage or Greek God's yogurt (check ingredients to make sure the yogurt you are using to inoculate contains at least 4 cultures) or yogurt packets from Cheesemaking.com to culture

So if I want to make half gallon of yogurt

I heat 2 quarts of milk and use 1/4 cup of yogurt culture

Step 2 Heat milk to 180-185 degrees F. and hold for 10-20 minutes.

Step 3  Cool milk quickly by placing pan in ice water to 120-125 degrees

Step 4   Inoculate by adding yogurt culture in jar you are pouring your milk into to incubate

Step 5  Incubate in warm place 4-12 hours  I wrap my jars in a towel and sit on hot water heater for 12 hours

Put in refrigerator and enjoy!  At this point I take out yogurt to use for next batch and store in the freezer.  

Add jam, syrup, molasses, or honey to sweeten. Serve over granola or nuts.

After 4 hours of refrigeration you can drain and make greek yogurt.

I drain in the refrigerator for two days for cream cheese.  The possibilities are endless of additions:  herbs, nuts, chutney, jams, sauces, dried fruit or nuts you can add to the cream cheese.

This week I added dried cranberries to the cream cheese then shaped into a log and rolled in toasted sugar almond slices.

Luscious Cream Cheese

Sideways Heart

You can buy heart cheese molds at Cheesemaking.com.  After I drain the yogurt I put into mold and drain longer to ensure the heart won't crumble when I take the mold off.
Then I pour Fischer & Weiser Raspberry Chipotle Sauce or Jalapeno Jelly over and instant party success!

Not a heart shape,  but you get the idea.