I recently received a sample of Greek Gods yogurt as part of a foodies 100 recipe challenge. While I was waiting for it to arrive I was thinking of all the things I could make with it, cakes? Creme brûlée? Cheesecake? When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised at how deliciously creamy it was! (so much so I'd eaten half the pot within the first day!) because I wanted a recipe that didn't alter the flavour too much and because there's just something special about filo pastry I decided to give filo pastry baskets a go. I must admit they were surprisingly easy and tasted really good! So good I HAD to go back for seconds. It's also a pretty light and healthy desert.
You will need
Small saucepan
Frying pan
Stand/hand blender
Basting brush
Scissors
Cupcake tray
Ingredients (for 4 baskets)
2 sheets of filo pastry (this is available in most supermarkets in both the chilled and frozen isles)
1 punnet strawberries
a few splashes of spiced rum (I prefer sailor Jerry's)
50g butter (melted)
1 tablespoon icing sugar
Greek Gods Honey and Vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons Golden caster sugar
Method
Select your best looking Strawberries and set to one side as these will be used as a garnish.
With the rest, cut off the tops and cut into quarters. Add to a small saucepan with the rum and icing sugar
Simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the strawberries have started to break down, the rum has reduced and it has started to become thick.
Once the strawberries have become thick you need to blend into a sauce, you can either do this with a hand or stand blender.
When finished the sauce should look something like this:
While your strawberry sauce is cooling get your filo cases ready. To do this you will need to cut each sheet into 8 squares (don't worry if they aren't perfect). Get your melted butter and basting brush ready and in a small cupcake tray grease the bottom of four moulds. Add your first piece of filo and baste with butter, continue adding more sheets basting between each layer until you have 4 layers and the edges stand proud (as shown in the photo below). Finally sprinkle a little sugar over the edges of the basket.
The final step is to prepare the heart-shaped garnish with your best strawberries, you can do this while the filo baskets are in the oven but note that the baskets take just 10 minutes.
Place the filo baskets in the oven on 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes or until golden (keep and eye on them).
In a pan sprinkle your golden caster sugar and a tablespoon of left over butter you should have left over from basting the baskets. Heat until the sugar starts to melt and brown. BE CAREFUL as hot sugar can burn easily.
While the sugar is heating, take the strawberries selected for the garnish and pinch off the stalks (do not cut). Slice each strawberry into 4 vertically so that you have two large slices and two small end slices. With the two middle slices cut out a triangle-shaped notch in the top where the stalk would have been. This should make them look like hearts. Place each heart in the sugar to caramelise, this should only take a few seconds each side. Once done place to one side on some grease proof paper until you assemble the basket. Carefully put the pan to one side to cool (the sugar will be really hot).
Once the sauce, baskets and hearts have cooled you can make your baskets.
First fill the bottom with 2 teaspoons of strawberry sauce, next with 2 tablespoons of Greek Gods yogurt and finally top with your lovingly prepared hearts. How romantic!
That's it! one basket should be enough per person but if you are greedy like us we had to have two!
*This recipe is my own and was inspired by Greek Gods recipe competition with foodies 100
