Michelle Darmody: Baking with natural yogurt
Yogurt is made by introducing cultures to milk. In Ireland that milk is mainly cows’ milk, but yogurt can be made with sheep, goat, and even coconut milk.
Cultures are used to ferment the milk and turn it into a ticker and more sour substance.
It is scalded or heated, then cooled to a temperature that will incubate the live microorganisms that turn it into yogurt, to further inoculate those bacteria the yogurt is kept warm for several hours before cooling and being poured into jars or pots.
Once the yogurt has formed it can, if desired, be strained to reduce the whey content and to thicken it.
There are two types of yogurt used here in the recipes, the Greek yogurt is a thicker form of yogurt and when natural yogurt is called for, it is the runnier style.
Yogurt is excellent at keeping the bacteria in your digestive system healthy. It can be added to many savoury dishes such as curries or used on the side in tzatziki.
Lassi or yogurt drinks are a pleasant way of introducing more yogurt to your diet.
In India, where the lassi originates, it is often made with salt to help off-set dehydration, but here in Europe our yogurt drinks are more often made with fruit and sometimes a little sugar.
When making the oat and yogurt bread you can add any selection of seeds you like, I use a mixture of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, and linseed. If you wish you can also add some nuts, hazelnuts are particularly nice.
Lemon Yogurt Loaf with Orange Syrup
Heat your oven to 180C and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment.
Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs.
If the mixture begins to split add a tablespoon of the flour. Stir in the zest and yogurt and then add the sieved flour.
Scoop into into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Stir the ingredients for the syrup gently over a very low heat.
Pour over the warm cake while it is still in the tin.
Allow to cool in the tin.
Oat and Yogurt Seed Bread
Heat the oven to 200C and oil a 2lb loaf tin. I often put a strip of baking parchment on the base of the tin, which makes the loaf easier to remove.
Sieve the bread soda and salt into the flour and mix them together. Mix in the wholewheat and spelt flours, as well as the oats and seeds.
Stir the yogurt and egg together and mix them into the other ingredients until everything is completely combined. Scoop it into the tin and smooth out the top.
Sprinkle with some more seeds or oats if you wish. Make a slit in the centre of the loaf lengthwise.
Bake for 45 minutes and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then remove and place on a wire rack.
Yogurt and strawberry tarts
To make the pastry rub the butter into the flour until it resembles rough breadcrumbs, do not over mix it, it
should not be oily.
Stir the sugar into the egg yolk, mix it lightly and then add it to the pastry, bring it together with your hands.
Rest the pastry for an hour in the fridge or over night.
Grease and flour six tartlet cases. Reheat the oven to 180C.
Roll the pastry and gently line the tart cases, cutting away an excess pastry from the top.
Place the tart cases back into the fridge for a half an hour.
Cut six circles of parchment and place them into the pastry shells.
Fill with beans or ceramic beads for blind baking.
Bake the pastry for 20 minutes, or until golden and baked through. Set aside to cool completely.
Whisk the yogurt with the mascarpone, zest, honey and icing sugar until smooth.
Fill the cold cases with the yogurt mixture.
Top with the sliced strawberries.
