Cherry Berry Yogurt Tart

A few years ago, our blogs were our blogs. Fellow bloggers and other readers would come to our blogs, read our posts and comment on them. I remember very clearly the time when I lived for those comments. Because they were my only connection to my readers. (Julie & Julia, anyone?) I still wait eagerly for comments to posts that I put up. Today they are few and far between. But many lines are blurring and I now have multiple connections with my fellow bloggers and readers. Facebook is one of those connections.

Last year, a few random conversations led to the formation of a Baking Club and all of us made a Mango Cake. I got a little busy in the months that followed and couldn't keep up. Over the next few months, my blog suffered from lack of attention. In the last few months, it has picked up speed again.

 

A more recent chat on Facebook led to the revival of this club. The one I fondly called The Sisterhood of Travelling Cake Tins is now christened that. And since today is the 100th birthday of Julia Child, the theme for this episode is her Baked Yogurt Tart. Keep a lookout in the blogosphere today. You are bound to see multiple yogurt tarts from my dear friends and fellow bloggers. And given that Cook For Julia is being hosted by PBS, you will see many other Julia Child recipes too.

This recipe is adapted from a Julia Child recipe found here. I used readymade frozen puff pastry for the base. You can find my tried and trusted recipe for shortcrust pastry here. I omitted the nuts from the recipe.

1 recipe Shortcrust Pastry dough/Puff Pastry

For the filling:

2 cups Yogurt

3/4 cup Sugar

3 Eggs

3/4 cup Flour

2 tbsp pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Cherries, pitted and halved

1 cup Mixed Berries (I used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

Icing sugar, for dusting

Heat the oven to 400F/200C.



Roll the pastry doughinto a 12 inch circle of 1/4 inch thickness and fit it into a 9" round springform pan. Cover the top with baking paper and blind bake for 20 minutes with pie weights, rice or beans.

Remove the weight and the baking paper and allow the tart shell to cool. Set the oven to 325F/160C.

 In the meanwhile, beat the eggs and the sugar together. Add the yogurt and the vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour a little by little and fold it into the mixture. Pour the mixture into the cooled tart shell. Do not fill to the brim, only about 2/3. Add the fruit. (The tart will look like this at this stage.) Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut into wedges and serve.

Packed with fruit and the goodness of yogurt, this is one keeper recipe.

Happy 100th birthday Julia! Happy Independence Day! And a toast to dear S and I. We lost our independence this day six years ago when we got engaged formally.

Here are the links to the other posts from the sisterhood:

Aparna: Baked Yogurt Tart (Tarte Au Yaourt) With Fresh Orange & Pistachios, In An Oatmeal Crust
Nandita:Baked Yogurt Berry Tart
Arundathi:
Arundati:Baked Yogurt Tart with Blueberries, Almonds and Orange Zest in an Oatmeal Pie Crust</
Monika:Baked Yogurt Tart with Fresh Figs and Blueberries

Very Berry Vegan Cake

The cake monsoon is on at The Singing Chef. I would like to believe that the season will change shortly or else I may need a new wardrobe very soon. I am on a baking spree and there is no proverbial light at the end of this tunnel.

I have had a lot of people ask me for eggless versions of my cakes. I have to admit, I never really baked too many eggless cakes. And whenever I absolutely needed to, I used the egg replacer powder that one gets in supermarkets. But for about a month, I was asked by Baby A's paediatrician to stay off certain foods to test if he was allergic to something. When something is denied to you, you tend to miss it the most. No eggs, no nuts, no dairy. Technically, no cake. But I simply wanted it. And I was adamant to find a way out.

Recipes for eggless cakes are easily available. I didn't find too many vegan cake recipes that jumped out at me and said "Bake me!" I decided that I'd find no-egg and no-dairy alternatives and use them in a regular cake. That is what I did. The resulting cake was a tad dense, but otherwise divine. It was just perfect to satisfy that craving for something sweet when I was being denied everything else.

1/4 cup Oil
1 2/3 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2/3 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup of Soy milk (approx.)
1/4 cup Silken Tofu, pureed
1 cup Mixed Berries (Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries)
A few drops Pink Food Colour (optional)
Icing Sugar for dusting

Pour the lemon juice into a large measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to make 1 cup.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease and line an 8" cake tin.

Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) together.

In a mixing bowl, add the pureed silken tofu and sugar and beat well. Add the oil, curdled soy milk and the lemon zest and beat together. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the colour, if using. Add the berries and mix gently.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Dust with icing sugar. Cut into wedges and serve.