Mulberry and lemon yoghurt tart

“If I prepare sweet treats, they usually come in the form of raw goodies or fruit-based desserts. This tart is a pretty darn fine example. The beauty of it is that you can top it with whatever fruit is in season, such as berries, thinly sliced stone fruit, sliced fresh figs, rounds of blood orange, kiwifruit or mango. If you're pushed for time, use a good-quality Greek yoghurt in place of the strained yoghurt.”

Credit: Emma Galloway

• serves

  8

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 15 fresh medjool dates (see Note), chopped
• 2 cups raw nuts or seeds
• 3 tbsp virgin coconut oil, melted if solid
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (see Note)
• 1 pinch of fine sea salt
• a few big handfuls of fresh mulberries

Strained yoghurt

• 840 g (3 cups) natural yoghurt
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 125 ml (½ cup) lemon juice
• 3 tbsp honey

Chilling time 3 hours

Instructions

To make the strained yoghurt, place the yoghurt in a muslin-lined sieve (or use a nut milk bag if you own one) set over a deep bowl. Gather up the sides, twist them to enclose, then place a little bowl on top to lightly weigh down. Transfer the whole lot to the fridge and leave for 2-3 hours to drain. Periodically, check the bowl and empty out the whey when it comes close to reaching the sieve. (Obviously, if you have a deep bowl and space in your fridge, this won't be a problem.) Reserve the whey to add to smoothies or freeze for later use.

Meanwhile, combine the lemon rind, lemon juice and honey in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until reduced to a syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 

To make the shell, process all the ingredients except the mulberries in a food processor until roughly ground and sticky. Line the base of a 23 cm loose-bottom cake tin or pie dish with a round of baking paper and press the base mixture evenly over the base and 3 cm up the side of the tin. Use the back of a spoon to help smooth if you prefer. Refrigerate until needed.

When ready to serve, transfer the strained yoghurt to a bowl and swirl through half of the lemon syrup. Spoon the yoghurt mixture into the shell, top with the mulberries and drizzle over the remaining lemon syrup. Serve immediately or return to the fridge where it will happily keep for a few hours. 

Note

• If you don't have access to fresh medjool dates, use 1 cup firmly packed dried pitted dates instead. Soak in warm water for 20 minutes and squeeze really well to get rid of any excess liquid before using.

• I used a mix of cashews, walnuts and sunflower seeds

Recipe from My Darling Lemon Thyme. Recipe, styling and photography by Emma Galloway.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.