Frozen yogurt cheesecake with drunken strawberries

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a really big dessert fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating desserts and sweets, especially chocolate! I love making my moist banana cake but that’s as far as my dessert adventures go. Baking lavish cakes or desserts isn’t my forte. I’m a girl who loves the simplicity of a dessert. When I decide to make one, I always look at the ingredients, which determines if it’s too hard to make or not. The less ingredients and less work preparing and cooking are the sort of desserts I love.

A friend put me onto Mamamia, who were looking for a guest writer to appear on their website. To be in the running to get a chance to write with them you had to make a recipe using their product of the moment, Rachel’s gourmet low-fat yogurt. There are some beautiful flavours like Wild Strawberry & Rhubarb, Black Plum & Roasted Fig, Peaches & Vine Ripe Passionfruit and Mango & Madagascan Vanilla. WOW! They all sound delicious don’t they!?

Which one should I use to create my dessert? I thought about the plum and fig yogurt but as figs aren’t really in season and I wanted to use ingredients that are readily available to every household. Strawberries are readily available most of the year and I knew I could create a dish that wouldn’t take long to put together. So the Wild Strawberry and Rhubarb was what I chose.

Rachel’s low fat yogurt comes in a see-through tub, so you actually see what you’re getting in your yogurt which is such a refreshing change. Upon opening and tasting the yogurt, I fell in love immediately! The creamy texture of the yogurt was delicious and once you dipped your spoon right to the bottom of the tub to get the saucy fruit, it was the perfect combination – if I hadn’t been using this to create a dessert, I could have eaten the whole tub by myself for morning tea! I knew I should have bought two tubs! 😉 The yogurt doesn’t have a lot of added sugar which is something I like in my yogurt. The fruit seems stewed in its own, natural juices which is a refreshing change. It freezes perfectly too.

My inspiration for this dessert was using readily available products found at your local supermarkets or green grocer. It had to be something that could be made within two to three hours, something easily enough to put together if you needed a quick dessert for when unexpected guests pop over. This dessert reminds me of a cheesecake – creamy filling with a crunchy, crumbly base.

TIP 1: To make perfect shapes every time you’ll need a six-hole muffin tin for perfect frozen yoghurt moulds and egg rings or preparation rings for the biscuit crumble. Make sure the biscuit base mould and the muffin tin moulds are similar sizes. Egg rings might be slightly bigger than the muffin tin.

TIP 2: For the biscuit crumble feel free to use any packet biscuits that are in your pantry – Maree, Malt-o-milk or milk coffee biscuits are perfect for this dessert. Or follow the recipe I used.

TIP 3: To make this dessert family friendly, replace the alcohol with rose water. You can also just add the sugar to the strawberries. This will produce enough syrup for the dessert.

TIP 4: The frozen yogurt and the biscuit crumb can both be made ahead of time – up to two days prior if needed. The crumble can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for a week. The frozen yogurt will only stay creamy for two to three days only; otherwise it will turn too icy.

TIP 5: Try using Kahlua, Brandy, Cointreau or even flavoured vodka instead of whiskey.

 

PREP: 1 hour + 2-3 hours freezing time     SERVES: 6 people

INGREDIENTS:

FROZEN YOGURT:
1 tub (560 grams) Rachel’s Wild Strawberry and Rhubarb yogurt

BISCUIT CRUMBLE:
250 grams biscuits, crushed
125 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup desiccated coconut

STRAWBERRIES:
2 punnets (500 grams) fresh strawberries, keeping 6 strawberries for garnish
2 tablespoons Makers Mark (optional)
2 tablespoons white sugar

METHOD:
FROZEN YOGURT:

  
Place 3 teaspoons of creamy yogurt (not the fruit at this stage) into each muffin mould. Once each muffin mould is filled three-quarters full, add one teaspoon of the fruit to the top. Place in the freezer for two-three hours. Check after two hours.

BISCUIT CRUMBLE:
Turn the oven on to 200°C.

  

Place whole biscuits in the chopper attachment jug for your stick blender, or in a food processor, and blend until biscuits become a fine breadcrumb consistency. Place into a medium bowl with the coconut.

In a small bowl, microwave butter for one minute, until completely melted. Add to the biscuit and coconut, mixing until well combined.

Place the crumble on a baking tray, loosely, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

DRUNKEN STRAWBERRIES:

  
About 15 minutes before serving, hull and slice the strawberries in halves or quarters, depending on size. Place in a bowl with the sugar and Makers Mark. Gently coat the strawberries in the liquid until all sugar is dissolved. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the 6 strawberries you kept aside, cut into slices then gently separate to form a fan. Follow this tip. Keep aside to garnish dessert.

PLATING UP:
Remove the frozen yogurt from the freezer and place the bottom of the tray in a bowl/container of water – this will help loosen the yoghurt out of the muffin tin. Remove after one minute of sitting in the water and set aside while preparing the crumble base. Ensure you have a bowl/container that’s not bigger than your muffin tin.

  

Grab your egg ring or prep ring, place them on the plate you wish to present the dessert on, and place four-five heaped teaspoons of the biscuit crumble into each ring. Press the crumbs down with the back of the teaspoon until firm. When you remove the ring the crumble should stay together perfectly.

Turn the frozen yogurt out onto a chopping board and tap gently, the yoghurt should come straight out. If not, tap gently again on your chopping board until they’re released. Get a butter knife or flat spatula and slide under each individual yogurt. Set on top of the crumble. Perfect! Repeat until all the yogurts have been used.

Place some of the sliced strawberries to one side of the dessert and drizzle the syrup all over. Place individual strawberry fans on top of each individual dessert.

Serve and enjoy immediately. This dessert is delicious when the yogurt starts melting!

As seen on Bake, Play, Smile’s Fabulous Foodie Fridays #4. So many amazing recipes so why don’t you come join us! It’s lots of fun.

 

I have added this to Rattlebridge Farm’s June 6th Foodie Friday. Love to see you there

 

Another great party to join up at to – it’s so much fun with so many amazing recipes to inspire you. Come join The Weekend Social at McCallum’s Shamrock Patch – look forward to meeting you there.

 

I am so excited to be featured on Simple Supper Tuesday #16 for the week – I can’t believe it! Love being a part of such a wonderful food community. Lots of inspiration and recipe ideas. Would love to see you there.