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Yogurt Cheese Cake with a Raw Nutty Pie Crust

This yogurt cheese cake recipe couldn't be simpler to make. It's a high protein, low fat pie that is made by straining out whey from Greek yogurt to make a home made yogurt cheese.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Fusion
Prep Time 8 minutes
Total Time 8 hours
Servings 6 people
Calories 681kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Vitamix Food Processor
  • 1 Cheese Cloth
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 strainer

Ingredients

Yogurt Cheese

  • 8.5 cups Greek yogurt (2 kgs or 4 tubs of 500gms each - I used 0 fat Greek yogurt, but you can use whatever percent fat you like)
  • 8 tbsp maple syrup (you can use a sweetner of your choice, if you don't like maple syrup.I've tried it with honey, and it tastes just as deliocious. You might have to increase or decrease the quanity of honey depending on how sweet you like your cake)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pie Crust

  • 1 cup dried unsweetened mangoes
  • 1 cup pitted dates
  • 1 cup raw almonds
  • 1 cup raw cashew nuts
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil (add more if you feel your crumble is not coming together - this will depend on how dry your mangoes and dates are)

Instructions

  • Place a large strainer into a bowl, make sure the bowl is larger enough to hold all the whey that drips out from the yogurt. The strainer shouldn't sit flat in the bowl, this allows for the whey to drain well and not be reabsorbed back into the yogurt (watch video or view pictures above to see what I mean).
  • Place a large good quality cheese cloth into the strainer. Pour all your yogurt into the cheese cloth and tie the ends of your cheese cloth together. You can hold it together with a bag clip, an elastic band, or kitchen twine.
  • Allow as much whey to drain from your yogurt. Best to do this overnight in the fridge. The longer you leave to drain, the thicker the yogurt cheese will be. Generally 6 to 8 hours is a good time-frame, but I sometimes leave it to drain for 10 to 12 hours in the fridge. However, I have made this dessert when I had only a 4 hour window to drain the whey and it still worked, the cheese was not as firm as I would have liked it to be.
  • While this is drianing, you can prepare your pie crust by blending all of the pie crust ingredients together in a food proecssor. Start by chopping in the food processor the mangoes and dates, then add in the almonds, cashew nuts, flax meal and processor till all ingredients is broken down into tiny bits that resemble tropical sand. Finally add in the coconut oil. and process for another 30 to 45 seconds. Your pie crumble will come together like fine wet sand on a beach, but should not be a sticky ball, it will still be a bit crumbly. If it's extremely sticky add a bit more flax meal.
  • Turn your crumble into a pie dish and press down firmly. Cover and chill in the fridge while you prepare your yogurt cheese cake.
  • Remove the yogurt cheese from the cheese cloth and place in a bowl. To it add maple syrup and pure vanilla extract. Mix well.
  • Spread our yogurt cheese over your chilled pie crust and spread evenly.
  • Chill in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours before serving.
  • Serve cold with fresh fruit and grated dark chocolate or a topping of your choice.

Notes

  1. You can also freeze your yogurt cheese cake and serve on a hot day as a frozen dessert. You will have to thaw slightly to be able to cut it.
  2. Don't throw out the whey from the strained yogurt. Save it and make a protein drink with it, such as a sweet (with fresh mango)  or savoury (with sea salt and cumin seeds and fresh herbs ) lassi.
  3. If you have extra pie crust crumble, make energy balls with them as I do in the video. 

Nutrition

Calories: 681kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 111mg | Potassium: 994mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 346IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 439mg | Iron: 3mg