Cake of the Week: Greek Yogurt "Cheesecake" with Honey-Walnut Baklava Topping

Anyone else feel like they ate everything this Christmas? Oh I have no regrets. I'm just saying that after a steady diet of Christmas Crack and Christmas cookies and cheese and crackers and delicious mama-made meals, I could/should spend some serious time with fruits, veggies, and healthier desserts. (Note that I say healthier desserts, not no desserts. Who do you think I am? No desserts is crazy talk.)

What is not crazy talk? Greek Yogurt Cheesecake.

This is a healthy dessert for reals -- nonfat Greek yogurt, eggs, and a little sugar -- that is all! And it is insanely easy to make. And it's actually really smooth and creamy and delicious. Really I am blown away by how good this is. 

I made this for a Greek-themed dinner party back in the fall. Greek desserts are too hard for me on a weeknight (or ever -- I'll leave baklava to the pros), but I wanted to make something relevant to the theme. So I searched around for a dessert involving Greek yogurt, and then made up a honey walnut baklava-esque topping to go with it. 

I made the Graham cracker crust no problem, and slid the cake into the oven, praying to the baking gods that it did not deteriorate into a watery mess burning on the bottom (always a risk when trying something new). Well my prayers were answered because it came out looking a-ok and I was elated!

And I'm happy to report that it tastes good too. Definitely nowhere near as rich and creamy as a regular cheesecake, but it also doesn't give you that stomach-achy oh-jeez-I-ate-too-much feeling after a slice. I will definitely be making this again and trying out different toppings.

Greek Yogurt Cheesecake with Honey-Walnut "Baklava" Topping

Ingredients (cake):

• 1 1/2 cups crushed Graham cracker/crumbs
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (I used non-fat.)

Ingredients (topping):

• 1 cup honey (I used wildflower honey and it was amazing)
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cups walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly combine Graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter. Press into the bottom and a little up the sides of a 9" springform pan and bake for 10 minutes. 
3. Beat together eggs, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and flour. Gently whisk in the Greek yogurt.
4. Pour into hot crust and bake for 45-50 minutes or until barely set in center (just a little jiggly when you shake it). 
5. Cool cake to room temperature on wire rack, then refrigerate at least an hour (or overnight) before serving. 
6. For the topping: 30 minutes before serving, combine all topping ingredients in a small saucepan on the stove. Simmer until thickened, approximately 15 minutes. Spoon over each piece of cake before serving. 

Enjoy and feel good about yourself!!!

Chobani Greek Yogurt: Banana and Pear

Let’s talk breakfast. Some say it’s not necessary. Some say it’s the most important meal of the day. I say that I have always been on Team Eat Breakfast and Lord help anyone who tries to meaningfully interact with me before it happens.

Since I run before work, I eat a lot in the mornings. Don’t judge me, it usually looks something like this:

6:18 am –

• 1 shot block; or a finger-ful of peanut butter; and/or a couple chocolate chips; or a marshmallow.  (Ok so I’ll accept a little of your judgment for this…but the goal is really just some sugar of some kind to get me out the door when my eyes are still only half open.) 

8:15 am –

• 3-5 chips and salsa. Maybe some cheese involved in there. Maybe a couple carrot sticks as I pack my lunch. (I call this my “pre-breakfast,” as it is the breakfast that will get me to work where actual breakfast happens.)

9:15 am – Breakfast time! 

• ½ apple (usually fuji), thinly sliced and used as edible spoons
• Yogurt
• Frozen berries to make it extra-cold and fabulous
• A sprinkling of Grape Nuts for crunch
• Coffee (well duh) with a little cream and one splenda.

I have been enjoying a variation on this meal since umm probably junior year of high school. So it’s been about 10 years and this breakfast is still going strong.

And recently my breakfast took a major turn for the better. The lovely people at Chobani Greek Yogurt sent me their new flavors to try (text from SpeedyKate: Ummm Chobani shipped you a box of yogurts?), which is aaaaaamazing of them. I am super-psyched to be on their bloggers list because I do love Greek yogurt and I’m not just saying that.* (Remember when SpeedyKate and I ate a gourmet Greek yogurt dinner? I really do need to re-create that soup…)

The two new flavors: Low-fat Banana and Non-fat Pear. They are pretty much rocking my world. The banana one tastes like real bananas (not that fake banana candy flavor) and is sooo rich and delicious – with the addition of frozen strawberries I feel like I’m eating dessert. The Pear is milder tasting and goes SO WELL with frozen blackberries.

Normally I'm a non-fat whenever possible kind of person (because why not?), but it's only a 20 total calorie difference (140 v. 160) between non- and low-fat, and the low-fat is actually significantly better. And really, 20 calories is like 6 chocolate chips or a walk around the block, i.e. NO DIFFERENCE.

Also, I was thinking this morning that I'm probably all kinds of protein and calcium deficient...so for those of us who care, each yogurt has 14 grams of protein and 15% of recommended daily calcium. That's pretty good, right? (So says the girl who eats marshmallows before 6:30 am...)

Sadly, the shelf o’yogurt in my fridge is running low…I think I’m down to the last three, which will get me through this week. If only I could have yogurt delivered to my house on a regular basis!

*Yogurt was free (thanks Chobani!) but my opinions, as always, are my own.

Chobani Greek Yogurt Dinner at The Federalist

I received an unexpected surprise in my inbox a couple weeks ago – an invitation to a dinner at The Federalist with dishes specially prepared with Chobani Greek Yogurt. Umm hello yes please! It was scheduled for our moving day, so SpeedyKate came along for the ride, and what a ride it was. We arrived at a very fancy restaurant in The Madison Hotel, a place I often walk past but have never been inside.

The décor is really cool – and by that I mean, our private room was lined with red built-in bookshelves!!! Swoon. (Further inspection determined that the old artistic-looking books were in Swedish, so that’s weird.)

Anywho, I met an assortment of DC food bloggers (8 of us total) and spent a lovely evening chatting about blogging, cooking, the DC food scene, and Greek yogurt of course! Chobani worked with the chef to develop a menu that incorporated Greek yogurt in every dish and wow it was fancy and delicious. 

We started with a cornbread basket that contained the best cornbread I’ve ever had. Cornbread is often dry and requires a lot of butter, but this was suuuuuper moist just the right amount of corny sweetness. 

Next came the soup, which I think was the most creative and most delicious course. Our menus described it as White Gazpacho: Poached Laughing Bird Shrimp, Minted Yogurt. That nebulous description does not do it justice. It was thick and creamy (but the waiter said no cream) and the top was speckled with sliced green grapes, slivered almonds, tiny croutons, olive oil, and a dollop of Greek yogurt. 

Every course the chef presented was accompanied by a flurry of shameless food photography - gotta love food bloggers! (I was the only one without a fancy camera...maybe someday I'll invest? But for now you'll just have to compromise with my point-and-shoot images, eloquent descriptions, and your own foodie imagination.)

For my entrée I chose the Yogurt Poached Alaskan Halibut: Rose Finn Potatoes, Fava Beans, Globe Artichokes, Yogurt Emulsion. Clearly I was drawn to all the extra stuff. The fish itself was ok but not amazing, I think poaching is not my favorite way to cook things – it results in a one-note texture that is fine but not extraordinary. I think the artichokes and potatoes were the best part. 

SpeedyKate got the Slow Cooked Spring Lamb: Gin Soaked Cucumber, Spring Herb Salad, Espelette-Yogurt Emulsion that was prepared two ways and was allegedly fantastic. (Fyi, Google tells me that espelette is a variety of chili pepper.)

They also brought us two yogurt-less sides for the table: Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms, and Roasted Heirloom Cauliflower. Both were good, probably because I suspect they were marinated, roasted, and subsequently drenched in olive oil.

And dessert, oh dessert! It was a Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta: Strawberry Preserves, Shortbread Cookie, Long Pepper Syrup. I realize this is an excessively gushy post, and I apologize for that, but every part of the dessert was divine. Panna Cotta is almost like cheesecake, the cookie was just the right amount of crumbly and almost a little salty. The contrast of the sweet strawberry sauce and peppery syrup was super-sweet but balanced everything out quite well. 

My brand-new roommate and I called it a night around 10:30, bellies full, tastebuds happy, and generally post-move exhausted. What a win! 

And Emily and Lindsey, the Chobani representatives, said they would send around the recipes the chef developed…so White Gazpacho and Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta are very real possibilities in my future! 

(Though I don't think I'll ever be able to make it look this pretty...maybe? Fancy dinner party in the new apartment?)