Yogurt Pie

Wotchers!

Here’s a lovely recipe for anyone with a sweet tooth. It’s like cheesecake – but without the guilt. Made with plain yogurt and a bit of low-fat crème fraiche, the filling is topped and tailed with a delicious, lemon-flavoured……. well, now it gets a bit tricky. It’s not really pastry, because, although it’s crisp, it’s not THAT kind of crisp. And it’s not biscuit either – nor yet cake.

Shortcake, perhaps?

*waves hand dismissively* Anyhoo, whatever it is – it’s delish! All of it!

I found this recipe whilst lurking in the Croatian recipe corner of the internet *flips up collar and chews matchstick moodily*

Oh yes, I go there! *strikes fearless pose* Impressed?

The vanilla slice is the more popular, but I found several fans of the chocolate flavoured slice out there too – varying the recipe by using the simple trick of adding in some cocoa powder.

This is a deliciously simple dessert discovery to have made, because it calls for no fancy ingredients – my favourite kind of recipe. In fact, I had all of the ingredients in the fridge/cupboard anyway, without having to go on a shopping trip.

The trickiest part is grating the topping: You can substitute margarine for the butter, but be sure to use block margarine and not tub margarine, otherwise it won’t chill hard enough to grate.

You can use Greek yogurt if you like, to make it that bit more creamy. I like using just ordinary, plain yogurt because I like the shine it adds to my halo, and not because I can justify eating more than one slice at a time *dares you to say different*

NB this makes a LOT of pie – I bake it in my roasting tin (20cm x 30cm). Although it keeps well in a box in the fridge, I suggest halving the recipe (and reducing the cooking time slightly) if you don’t have a lot of mouths to feed.

Yogurt Pie

To make the dough
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
170g butter
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp baking powder
4 large egg yolks
a little low-fat crème fraiche to mix

• Put the flour, sugar, butter, lemon zest and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Add the egg yolks and mix again.
• If the mixture doesn’t come together into a soft dough, use a little crème fraiche for added moisture.
• Tip the mixture out and knead into a smooth ball.
• Cut the dough into two pieces.
• Wrap each piece in plastic and put one into the fridge and the other into the freezer for at least an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 200°c, 180°C Fan.
• Grease and line with parchment the tin you’re going to use. Grease the parchment also.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to cover the base of your tin.
• Cook the base for 10-12 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
• Make the filling:

For the filling
500ml plain yogurt
200ml low fat crème fraiche
250g caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
4tbs plain flour
3tbs cocoa (for chocolate slice only)
4 large egg whites

•   Mix the yogurt, crème fraiche, sugar, vanilla and flour (and cocoa if using) together.
• Whisk the egg-whites until stiff, the fold into the rest of the filling.
• Pour the filling over the cooked base and shake the tin to level the filling.
• Return the tin to the oven for 15 minutes. until the top of the filling has set a little.
• Remove the dough from the freezer and grate it evenly over the partially cooked filling.
• Return the tin to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the filling has almost set (just a slight wobble) and the topping is crisp and golden.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
• Chill thoroughly in the fridge.
• Before serving, dust the top with icing sugar and cut into slices.