“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. ”
James Bear
Cherry Yogurt Tart. This was a tart that swept me off my feet. It’s adapted from a recipe that keeps popping up on and off on blogs. With the flood of recipes to try, one tends to get lost and lose priority. Is it just me? Well this tart or pie {not sure which category it fell into} had been kept waiting too long. This turned out to be a tart, not a pie as most blogs call it. The Kitchn has a neat piece on Pie vs Tart …
A pie is a sweet or savory dish with a crust and a filling. The sides of a pie dish or pan are sloped. It can have a just a bottom, just a top, or both a bottom and a top crust. Pies are served straight from the dish in which they were baked.
A tart is a sweet or savory dish with shallow sides and only a bottom crust. The goal is a firm, crumbly crust. Tarts are baked in a pan with a removable bottom, or in pastry ring on top of a baking sheet so that it can be unmolded before serving.
There are several references to the recipe across the net. The origins are quite blurred. Most folk talk about the recipe being handed down from a great aunt and having got it from a friend. The ingredients are the same. Strangely enough all it takes to make it is a pie crust or tart bottom, yogurt and condensed milk. {It’s vegetarian too. No eggs, no gelatin}
I had some yogurt draining in the fridge to make fro yo. It’s the season for frozen goodies but I had a really full freezer that day. So I thought cheesecake with summer fruit. A friend had recently reached out to me for a baked eggless cheesecake recipe. That was still playing in my head. {Hiral, this cherry yogurt tart is very close to a baked eggless cheesecake. We loved it!! I thought of you throughout.}
With muddled thoughts I figured images might inspire me, so I began googling for images … and BINGO! There it was. Just the perfect tart or pie with ingredients that I had on hand, well almost. What ‘clinched’ the deal was that I had a loose bottomed rectangular tart pan that Sous Chef had used. She really turned out a stunner.
Strange tart this. It’s a little unbelievable that you can turn out a set tart with just two basic ingredients with 10 minutes of baking. Defies logic. Yet, my recent tryst with the Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse that used two ingredients convinced me otherwise. I thought, “If that was sensational, this might well surprise too. ”
And surprise it certainly did! Within 10 minutes of baking, it was a little firm to touch. I gently pulled it out of the oven to cool it on the rack and was scared to spill the filling. It hung on in there. ’twas a long overnight wait and once the kids were on the bus, I RACED to demold it. Looked on in amazement as it was firm.
My only concern is the biscuit base which didn’t remain very crisp. Most recipes refer to ‘tennis biscuits‘ which were new for me. Some more googling pointed towards South Africa where these biscuits are firm favourites. I think graham crackers might work a little better than the ginger nut cookies I used. So with a tart tin from Sydney {one of my favourite buys to date}, a recipe with two basic ingredients, some balsamic roasted cherries in the fridge, I put together this tart. With my sis visiting from the US, being the 4th today, I thought I’d give the yogurt tart some blue and red too. Frozen blueberries which I bought to try locally {very disappointing} and white sprinkles did the trick!!
The verdict was ‘high fives’ all around. The texture and taste of the Cherry Yogurt Tart is very close to a cheesecake, and leaves you wanting for more. {Very satisfying in Mr PABs words}.
[print_this]Recipe: Cherry Yogurt Tart
Summary: As simple as a tart can get, this Cherry Yogurt Tart is one of the fastest and sweetest ways to a quick dessert. A make ahead tart that sets amazingly, is eggless and uses two basic ingredients for the filling, is quite magical. Adapted from Sous Chef
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes plus chilling
Ingredients:
- 200g ginger nut cookies, crushed
- 100g melted butter
- 350g hung yogurt, thick
- 150g regular yogurt
- 1 tin condensed milk
- 2 tsp Kirsch {optional}
Method:
- Mix the melted butter and the crushed biscuits. Turn into the bottom of the prapared tin and press to form base. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a rectangular 4″ X 14″loose bottomed tart tin {or a 9″ round loose bottomed tart tin}
- Place both yogurts and condensed milk with Kirsch if using in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Pour over the chilled biscuit base and place in the oven for 10 minutes only.
- Take out of the oven, allow to cool. Then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight.
- Top with fresh fruit, balsamic cherries, or just serve as is.
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