Berry & Frozen Yoghurt Ice Cream Cake

The key to this frozen yoghurt cake is using thick creamy yoghurt. Combined with mascarpone, the result is a smooth frozen yoghurt ice cream. It makes quite a large cake, great for sharing or serving at a celebration. I have made the base with crunchy toasted muesli, which works really well with the yoghurt ice cream. If preferred, it can be prepared using your favourite biscuit crumb base.

PREP TIME 30 minutes // FREEZING TIME 6 hours // SERVES 12-16

Base

⁄ cup (100g) dried dates, chopped 2 cups (240g) toasted muesli* 50g melted butter

Pinch of salt

Frozen Yoghurt Layer

2 cups fresh or frozen berries (thawed)

⁄ cup (80g) mild honey or maple syrup

2 cups (500g) Greek-style natural yoghurt (unsweetened) 250g mascarpone

1 tsp vanilla extract

* If you haven’t got toasted muesli use ½ cup rolled oats, ½ cup desiccated coconut, ½ cup nuts, ½ cup seeds and 1 tsp cinnamon. Toast first in a dry frying pan until golden.

1. Grease a 20cm spring-form cake tin and line with baking paper.

2. Place the dates into a sieve and pour over 2 cups of boiling water to soften. Set the sieve over a bowl to drain for a few minutes.

3. Place the toasted muesli into a food processor and blend until roughly ground. Leave some bigger pieces for crunch.

4. Add the dates, melted butter and salt and blend again for 30 seconds until the mixture holds together when pressed.

5. Tip the crumb into the cake tin and press evenly to cover the base. Place the tin into the freezer while preparing the ice cream layer.

6. Wipe out the food processor. Add the berries and 2 tbsp of the honey or maple syrup. Blend until smooth.

7. In a bowl whisk together the yoghurt, mascarpone, remaining ¼ cup honey or maple syrup and vanilla. Check the taste, adding extra sweetener if needed.

8. Remove the cake tin from the freezer and pour over the yoghurt mixture.

9. Drizzle over the berry purée in a spiral and use a skewer to swirl through the yoghurt.

10. Freeze until solid, about 6 hours or overnight.

11. To serve, remove the cake from the freezer and thaw for 15-20 minutes to soften.

12. Loosen the sides of the tin then transfer the cake to a serving plate. Slice into wedges and serve immediately.

13. Leftover cake can be stored in a covered container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.