I got bored with my usual snacks of raw nuts and low fat yoghurt so I decided that I needed some variety in my life. Sometimes, eating healthy food can be viewed as being boring and this mindset is a great way to live an incredibly gloomy life or experience a very slow death! One just needs to use some creativity to assemble and present healthy food in new ways. I stumbled upon this cool Frozen Yoghurt Layer Cake recipe on Jamie Oliver’s Website (click here). I was seduced by the beautiful food photography on Jamie’s website and the fact that the two main ingredients were just fruit and yoghurt. WOW! It’s truly a guilt free snack or dessert. I liked the technique of freezing this cake in stages so that each layer sets separately – it not only looks impressive, but it also looks as though you put in lots of effort when you really didn’t. Let’s face the fact that many of us would love to whip up awe inspiring dishes to impress the socks off our loved ones, but the truth is that we often don’t have enough time. So I like to have a number of quick recipes to hand that look amazing and also make me feel like the ‘hostess with the mostess’ when I’m short on time.
The original recipe for this cake said to freeze each yoghurt layer for 15 minutes, and I did this initially but sadly discovered that since my strawberry layer wasn’t set, my blackberry layer which I poured on top of it just went straight through to the bottom of the pan. “Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!” I wailed in deep, DEEP, despair when I discovered my error. So as you have sadly discovered, I am not a culinary goddess and I often get things wrong when cooking. You’ll notice in my pictures that the top two layers of my cake are mixed in together (sigh….I just wonder what could have been?).
Anyways, I learnt my lesson and froze each cake layer for 1 hour before pouring the next layer on top and my problem was solved! I also tweaked this recipe to cater to my very sweet tooth – I find blackberries way too tart so I added some vanilla extract and crystallized ginger; I also added dessicated coconut, cinnamon and vanilla extract to the other layers and I loved the mix of all these flavours. Feel free to experiment with this recipe and let me know what you added to the fruit layers. So enjoy, be healthy, live long and prosper!
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Ingredients:
- 16 tablespoons natural yoghurt (approximately 600 grams)
- 250 g strawberries + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g blackberries + 1tsp vanilla extract and 1 & 1/2 tbsp crystallised ginger (but you can use fresh ginger)
- 250 g bananas + 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 250 g blueberries + 1 tbsp desiccated coconut
- (You can use any seasonal fruit that you like)
Instructions:
- Line a loaf tin with clingfilm.
- In a blender or food processor, blitz the strawberries with 4 tablespoons of yoghurt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Pour the fruit mixture into the tin and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes (but I would recommend freezing each layer for 1 hour).
- Meanwhile, rinse out the blender or food processor, and blitz the blackberries with another 4 tablespoons of yoghurt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 & 1/2 tablespoons crystallised ginger. Add this layer to the tin and return it to the freezer.
- Repeat with the other 2 types of fruit (and any additions that you like) and remaining yoghurt.
- The cake is ready as soon as the top layer is hard, but you can keep it in the freezer as long as you like. Slice the cake while still frozen and serve with berries.
