Since I can’t come to the computer (due to a hot date with a foot surgeon!) I thought I’d share another recipe and stay ‘in the pink’ so to speak with another rhubarb recipe.
This time we are leaving the land of savouries and preserves and skipping lightly towards the ever so tempting world of desserts with this light and tasty Homemade Sweet Cheese with Rhubarb and Raspberries.
I usually have some sort of yogurt and fruit as pudding, I like the sweet/sour combination that ticks the dessert box without lurching towards the calorific panic button that looms when sweeter puds are in the offing.
Now don’t recoil in horror at the mention of homemade cheese, I won’t have you pouring gallons of milk, wading in whey and waiting months for maturing. Far from it, this is a simple yogurt to cheese recipe that comes together rather beautifully itself in the fridge overnight.
Yogurt cheese is basically Greek yogurt that has been drained of its liquid content and taken on a firmer texture. While it is draining overnight in the fridge it can be flavoured with all manner of goodies to alter the finished product in any way you like to have either a savoury cheese or, as in this case, a sweet cheese for a pudding.
In this recipe I have added honey and vanilla to my yogurt for flavouring and stirred it in well before spooning the yogurt into a muslin lined sieve placed over a bowl and pressing down with a weighted saucer on top. This little combo is then popped into the fridge overnight for time to work its magic.
Next day tip the cheese (the yogurt is now classed as a cheese as the liquid has drained out of it) out of the muslin/cheesecloth and discard the liquid. Pull off small pieces of the cheese and roll into balls on your palms. Roll these in a spiced sugar and nut coating by mixing together 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of crushed roasted almonds. Set aside in the fridge.
To prepare the rhubarb and raspberry accompaniment simply rinse the fruit (always leave this to the last minute so that the fruit doesn’t absorb too much water) and pat dry.
For two servings I used about 200g/7oz rhubarb and a handful of raspberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 50ml/2 fl oz rose wine plus ½ small cinnamon stick, 1 star anise and 2 crushed coriander pods.
Chop the rhubarb into short lengths about 3cm/1-2” pieces and heat these gently with all other ingredients over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Raise temperature to a simmer and cook for approximately 10 minutes till rhubarb is tender but not falling apart. You still want it to retain those good looks, firm body and pink colour (!).
Remove spices and serve the homemade sweet cheese with rhubarb and raspberries along with some shortbread.
A spring time dessert that is fresh and fruity and just a little tart!
The sweet cheese will keep for up to a week in the fridge if you don’t eat it all at once!
Karon x
- 1 carton Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp honey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp toasted almonds crushed
- 200g/7 oz rhubarb
- handful of raspberries
- 2 tbsp water
- 50ml/2 fl oz rose wine
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 2 coriander pods crushed
- Mix the vanilla extract and honey with the yogurt and spoon into a sieve lined with muslin/cheesecloth and place this over a bowl. Cover with a sauced and weight down with a tin of beans etc, leave in fridge overnight to drain.
- Next day remove from cheesecloth and pull small pieces off the cheese and roll into balls.
- Roll cheese balls in mixture of cinnamon, sugar and crushed roasted almonds. Set aside.
- Cut rhubarb into pieces about 3cm/1-2" lengths and heat these with the raspberries and spices in a pan with the rose wine and sugar for approximately 20 minutes.
- Remove the spices and serve the rhubarb and raspberries with their flavoured syrup alongside the sweet cheese balls.
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