Can you imagine a time in America without cookies? It’s true. This very sad anomaly did indeed happen during WWII when there was a cookie hiatus due to the rationing of sugar, flower, and butter. It wasn’t until after this hiatus that we had the first official “cookie-mints” by a licensed baker hired by the Girl Scouts.

According to the Girl Scouts’ historian, the Cookie-Mints name changed to Chocolate Mint to Thin Mint to Cookie Mint to Chocolate Mint to Thin Mints to Thin Mint and finally, back to the plural Thin Mints.

Those who prefer mint cookies over any other cookie knows there is a specific way to store and eat them. Frozen. Yes! Any mint cookie lover will tell that is the only way to appreciate a mint cookie to it’s fullest is straight out of the freezer!

There is something about that chilled mint blast that comes at the end of a cookie mint bite. Now you can get the whole sensation out of a single flavor of froyo. Creamy Mint Cookie is a froyo flavor that is occasionally featured at Frenzi. Since it’s already frozen, you get that blast of mint, just like you would get if you were eating a mint cookie out of the freezer. Come in and try it for yourself next time you find it featured as one of our current flavors. And if you really like it that much, why not request it and we’ll bring it back sooner!

Next time you visit historic Downtown Gresham, stop by Frenzi Frozen Yogurt and treat yourself! Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays — buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

Vanilla used to be a way to describe something unordinary. Now we have Classic Vanilla, French Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, and Frenzi’s flavor of the week—Country Vanilla. Let’s break down what these different vanillas are all about.

Classic Vanilla is generally made without eggs. This is not always true, many classic vanilla recipes include eggs now, but not as much as our next vanilla flavor.

French Vanilla is supposed to have more eggs and an overall more custard-like flavor. The custard quality brings on changes in texture too. French vanilla is considered smoother and creamier.

Vanilla Bean is almost self-descriptive. It can be any vanilla flavor with the addition of chunks of vanilla bean. You can usually see the dotted specks of vanilla bean.

Country Vanilla is even creamier than French Vanilla. It also has a fresher quality to it. Due to the creamier flavor, it has a more rustic homemade taste to it. Country Vanilla is usually the flavor profile all vanilla recipes strive to.

Country Vanilla is usually regularly available as one of our current flavors. If you want some froyo that tastes even better than homemade, come on down to Frenzi. Vanilla is also the best flavor to pair with our fresh fruit toppings. Add a touch of hazelnut or caramel and you will have a gourmet dessert ready to eat.

Next time you visit historic Downtown Gresham, stop by Frenzi Frozen Yogurt and treat yourself! Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

 

A NEW FROYO FLAVOR: STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

This week we introduced a new froyo flavor. Behold, Strawberry Shortcake. Count yourself lucky, before the 19^th century you could only enjoy strawberry shortcakes from mid-June to early July. Imagine having but a mere three-week window to dive into this delightful masterpiece of classic summer flavors.

STRAWBERRIES WERE SEASONAL DESSERTS

This is because berries used to be seasonal—like eggnog and pumpkin spiced lattes. When you must wait 48 weeks out of the year for a certain berry, it’s no wonder people created special occasions for celebrating the return of the fruit. Specifically, they would celebrate the return of strawberries by having shortcake parties around the month of June.

PUTTING THE SHORT IN SHORTCAKE

Today the name shortcake is almost a misnomer. Most people make strawberry shortcakes out of sponge cake. And yet some still use a biscuit-like base. Originally, however, it was made with crumbling and lots of shortening. That’s where the shortcake got its name, from all the shortening used to hold the crumbling together.

You can capture the magic of all the flavors you would expect in a strawberry shortcake in the form of frozen yogurt at Frenzi! Come in and make your own froyo version of strawberry shortcake—and we suggest you come and get it before it’s gone again!

Next time you visit historic Downtown Gresham, stop by Frenzi Frozen Yogurt and treat yourself! Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

The second most popular question amongst the uninitiated is, “What does the açai berry taste like?” Of course, the most popular açai berry question is, “How do you pronounce it?” We will answer both questions in this installment of…Frenzi Flavor of The Week!

First, açai is pronounced, “ah-sah-EE”. We agree, that is a lot of syllables for only four letters. At least now you can impress your family and friends with your proper pronunciation. You can impress them further by describing the flavor. We will give you two versions on how to describe the flavor of the Super Açai Berry.

SHORT AND SWEET AÇAI FLAVOR DESCRIPTION

A cross between a blackberry and a piece of dark chocolate.

THE FOODIE DETAILED AÇAI FLAVOR DESCRIPTION

Resembling the richness of a blackberry with notes of raspberry and an after-taste finish like the bitterness of dark chocolate. The bitterness at the end comes from the polyphenols present in both the açai berry and dark chocolate.

BY THE WAY, IT IS ALSO A SUPER FOOD

If you are a fan of summer blockbusters you know there are heroes and then there are super heroes. Regular heroes are like firemen and first responders, while super heroes get to join the X-Men, Avengers, and the Justice League. If there was an all-star team of super foods, açai berry would be on that team. While some say superfood is only a marketing term, there are some heroic foods in this nutrient-rich category. Broccoli sprouts, salmon, and kale are all superfoods, but none of them sound like great candidates for a frozen yogurt flavor.

Next time you visit historic Downtown Gresham, stop by Frenzi Frozen Yogurt and treat yourself! Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

 

 

FROZEN YOGURT TO HIT ITS SECOND BOOM

There are multiple indicators that frozen yogurt is about to hit its second boom. According to Statistic Brain, 80% of all American consumers prefer froyo to ice cream, gelato, and other popular frozen treats.

WHY IS FROYO SO POPULAR?

When asked why the increased interest in frozen yogurt, consumers overwhelmingly preferred the health benefits of frozen yogurt—even froyo toppings can be healthy. There has also been newer adventurous froyo flavors hitting the market. Overall it is down to choices, frozen yogurt is a healthier alternative with more flavor options than ever.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST FROYO BOOM?

Frozen yogurt became available in the 1970’s but didn’t get much traction until the early 80’s. FroYo’s biggest boom was in 1995. According to the International Frozen Yogurt Association production peaked at 152 million gallons. The late nineties saw a slow decline, dropping to only 61 million gallons by 2007.

SURGING FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS

The strength of frozen yogurt’s popularity continues to grow every year since 2013. Since Frenzi has opened our doors we have been proud to offer healthy alternatives, self-service, and classic flavors as well as unique and unusual ones.

Next time you visit historic Downtown Gresham, stop by Frenzi Frozen Yogurt and treat yourself! Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

Today we added a new frozen yogurt flavor. Behold! New York Cheesecake! We already know what you are asking, “Is there a difference between a New York cheesecake and a regular cheesecake?” The short answer is yes. But we know what you’re thinking. You really want to impress everybody around the water cooler tomorrow with your vast knowledge of cheesecakes. We can help you, read on. World history as told from the perspective of cheesecake.

THE FIRST CHEESECAKE & RECIPE

Be prepared to impress your fellow water cooler mates with these historical cheesecake tidbits —

The first cheesecake was called a plakous, Greek for “flat mass”. As you can guess by the Greek name it was, in fact, made in Greece during the 5^th Century BCE and involved pounding fresh cheese with flour and honey and cooked on an earthen-ware griddle. It was considered a traditional wedding cake. Think of this as the caveman of cheesecakes—don’t worry, it evolves soon, right around when the Romans conquered the Greeks.

In 230 AD, seven centuries after the Greeks first pounded cheese, someone finally decided to write down the recipe although they added crushed cheese and eggs and gave it a new name “libuma”. It was considered a spoil of war and as the Romans expanded their empire they brought the cheesecake recipe to the Europeans.

WELCOME TO MEDIEVAL TIMES

Not everything was dark and depressing during medieval times. Great Britain and Eastern Europe began experimenting with ways to put their own unique spin on cheesecake. In the mid-1500s when Henry VIII wasn’t beheading new wives he had his chef cut up cheese into very small pieces and soaked those pieces in milk for three hours. Then, he strained the mixture and added eggs, butter, and sugar. The rumors about Henry VIII aren’t entirely fair, he only beheaded two of his six wives. Here’s a poem to help you keep track of all six.

King Henry VIII,
To six wives he was wedded.
One died, one survived,
Two divorced, two beheaded.

NEW YORK, ARE WE THERE YET?

It would be another 400 years before we get to the signature ingredient of New York Style cheesecake — cream cheese. It was actually invented by accident. In 1872 a New York dairy farmer was trying to make a French cheese called Neufchatel. He messed it up but invented the process for creating Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Oddly enough Philadelphia has nothing to do with the creation of cream cheese, they just thought it sounded better because Philadelphia, at the time, was known for top quality food.

NEW YORK CHEESCAKE and REUBEN SANDWHICHES HAVE the SAME FATHER

We made it! You crossed time and space over 25 centuries of war and famine to learn who invented the New York style Cheesecake and the inspirations for the frozen yogurt flavor of the week at Frenzi Frozen Yogurt:

His name is Arnold Reuben, a German-Jewish immigrant and deli owner who invented the sandwich with the same name in 1914. The man could rest on those laurels for the rest of his life, but culinary creativity has no ceiling, Arnold Rueben would go on to transform cheesecake for generations to come. After sampling a cheese pie, he asked for the recipe which consisted of curds, cream, eggs, and sugar and substituted Philadelphia Cream Cheese for curds. As they say “Voila!”

NEW YORK CHEESECAKE — THE FROYO

Usually, cheesecake is made from cream cheese, eggs, and egg yolks to add a richness and a smooth consistency. A New York–style cheesecake relies upon heavy cream or sour cream. The typical New York cheesecake is rich and has a dense, smooth, and creamy consistency. A rich creamy flavor captured so perfectly by Frenzi’s New York Cheesecake flavored frozen yogurt, your hardest decision will be which of our 60 froyo toppings will you add to this delicious dessert?

For those who like to stir things up a bit, popular toppings that pair well with cheesecake include chocolate, white chocolate, amaretto, banana, and cookie. If you want to get really fancy, you can recreate the most popular cheesecake topping fashioned after turtle candies; add Oreos and caramel sauce and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. All three are available options from our topping menu. Click on the following link to see our froyo flavors and toppings.

Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!

 

Ah Sassafras…

“Ah sassafras—especially the root,” said nobody ever. But Root Beer? Yes almost everybody loves root beer especially when you throw in some ice cream —it’s the classic root beer float.

You may be surprised that this is a uniquely American drink and not found outside the states that often. In fact, if you ask most people outside the United States what root beer tastes like, they might say cough syrup. Other countries use sassafras as a flavoring for medicine—like how we add cherry flavor to most of ours.

Capturing the flavor of a root beer float as a frozen yogurt means you also must recreate the creamy foam that happens when the ice cream melts into the root beer. There is a lot of science that happens inside that foam which makes for the unique flavor. When that ice cream hits the carbonated root beer, air from inside the ice cream gets released and is then wrapped by the fat. These create little packages of sweet air trapped in cream.

No one knows for certain who first combined root beer with ice cream to make a frosty treat, but many historians believe it was either Robert Green or Fred Sanders. They think the cool concoction was likely invented in the United States in the late 1800s.

Luckily, you can come into Frenzi for our own froyo version of this uniquely American frosty treat! Try a taster first and then think of all the toppings you can add to your “root beer float” that you never thought possible!

Visit our menu to see our seasonal offerings and plan your next visit. Don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for Waffle Cone Wednesdays – buy one desert and receive one waffle cone or waffle cup free!