Caramel yogurt and cheese cake

Once again I have to apologise for my photography skills and this time it's not only that the photo is bad but also the fact that I couldn't wait and scoffed half the cake before taking it.

On a plus side, from that you can deduce that this cake is delish. Yes, I know I say that about all my cakes but that's only because they really are, and not only that, they're pretty healthy and simple to make, so let's not beat around the proverbial bush and see what the ingredients are.

First of all, (ok, just a teensy weensy bit of beating round the bush) unlike my last recipe the 'Miracle cake', which is made on the sheer force of will power alone, for the yogurt cake you will actually need to have a few ingredients in your fridge, and here's what you'll need:

• wholemeal flour (plain flour is ok if you prefer it),
• olive oil or softened butter,
• brown sugar, (enough for the biscuit mix and the caramel)
• a little water to bind the biscuit mix (or milk if you prefer),
• a tub of ricotta cheese
• a tub of plain or Greek yogurt

Just a couple of points - if you can't find ricotta then you can use any cream cheese you like (I'm sure I don't need to remind you that it mustn't be flavoured) - I use ricotta because like mascarpone and a few other cream cheeses it's one of the cheeses that don't contain rennet so it's ok for vegetarians.

So, onwards! How do we make this delish cake? Well, it's very simple. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's start with the caramel yogurt cake slide show...

So there you have it! Now off you go and get making your caramel yogurt and cheese cake!

You want more instructions?

Well ok, I'll see what I can do.

The biscuit base

If you read my Miracle Cake recipe then you'll already now how to make the biscuit but if you weren't there here's a recap - rub the olive oil or soft butter into the flour until you obtain 'fine breadcrumbs', transfer the lot into a frying pan and toast on a low heat (don't run off, it'll burn if you don't stir it) until the flour has changed colour and is giving off a 'floury' fragrance.

Next, add enough sugar to see a good amount of grains in every part of the flour when you stir it.

Next, add the water (or milk if you prefer) and mix and pat it into a biscuit base. There! Easy peasy, wasn't it?

The topping

Beat the yogurt and ricotta (or cream cheese) together. Here, if you prefer it more yogurty use more yogurt than ricotta and vice versa if you're a cheesy type. Once you've done that you need to prepare the caramel - don't panic, it's very simple.

Pour in a sauce pan the amount of sugar you would have used had you mixed it in with the yogurt mix dry. Of course, if you put in more it doesn't matter because any caramel left over can keep in a cup to mix with your coffee, tea, hot milk or whatever it is you drink the next day.

Add a little bit of water to the sugar (not too much or you'll be waiting for it to boil down all day), stir it with the sugar and turn on the heat to medium (or high if you're getting hungry already). When the sugar and water is making odd bubble faces at you, or in other words it's gone sticky, you can turn off the heat and pour it over the ricotta mix and any left over you can use to decorate or as I said, put in your next cup of coffee.

Pour your topping over the biscuit base and you're done! You can eat your caramel yogurt cake straight away, or otherwise if you want it firm like a cheesecake you can stick it in the fridge a couple of hours (a medal to you if you can hang on that long).

There! And with a cake as quick and simple to make as that you can make one practically every day! (Or is that just me...?)

Happy munching to you all!