Just Add Yoghurt

My Grandma makes the best cheesecake. I worked at The Cheesecake shop for 2 years so I consider myself an expert on the subject. Why was her cheesecake the best? Because it was light, creamy and sweet but not sickening. Plus the biscuit base was crunchy and buttery. The perfect end to Christmas lunch. For a friend’s Christmas catch up (yes another) I wanted to make a tangier and gluten free version of my Grandma’s cheesecake. A dessert that would cut through the salty antipasto entree and rich pork main. These mini cheesecakes did just that. A warning however, these mini cheesecakes are very soft and don’t have a firm texture. So use patty pans. Ingredients: 160g gluten free chocolate chip cookies 75g butter, melted 250g cream cheese, room temperature 2.5 tablespoon glucose syrup Juice of ½ lemon ¾ cup Greek yoghurt Lemon curd and mint to finish. Method: Using a food processor, crush the gluten free chocolate chip cookies until they resemble bread

Christmas growing up was all about the desserts. Yes a sausage for lunch was always good, but it was the table full of different desserts that would get my heart racing as a chubby little girl. We loved light, creamy and sweet desserts. And every year I say to myself I’ll try making panna cotta, but I never have! So when Mr Bball and I had two friends over for dinner as a pre-Christmas catch up I couldn’t wait to finally give panna cotta a go. In an effort to make it light and tangy, yoghurt replacing the cream seemed like an obvious choice. Truth be told my friend was weary of panna cotta, but I think I won her over with this recipe. Ingredients: 1 cup cream 1 tablespoon honey 100g sugar 3 teaspoons of gelatine powder ¼ cup hot water  400g MOO mango yoghurt Method: Combine cream, honey and sugar over low heat. Cook until honey and sugar dissolves Sprinkle the gelatine powder into the hot water and stir until dissolved. Once dissolved set aside for 8

I use to work at the cheesecake shop and the amount of Pavlovas I would cream and top with fruit on Christmas Eve and Christmas day would blow your mind. Let’s just say a production line was required and it was by order only. Too much demand for last minute orders. When I think of Christmas, I think of Pavlovas. The marshmallow, sugary and crispy base with cream and slightly tart fresh fruit to balance out the sweetness, conjures up memories of my old green apron and checked chef pants. So when having the girls over for dinner for a pre-Christmas gathering, I couldn’t resist recreating this traditional Christmas favourite but with a twist. I’ve always wanted to make an Eton mess so I took this as the opportunity. Commonly served with cream, I used a yoghurt instead along with lemon curd, strawberries and crushed biscuits. Ingredients: Meringue: 3 large egg whites 175g sugar Yoghurt sauce: 2 x eggs whites 2 tablespoons sugar Pinch salt 400g yoghurt To serv