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Sunday, February 6, 2011

French Yogurt Cake


Notice how it is looming over you...waiting to be tried (I don't know why I cut at an angle....oh well)

I have wanted to make French Yogurt Cake for so very long. I think its because every blog I've read about it has said its the first cake French children learn to make. I imagine a life in the French countryside. One day I turn five (or eight? when do people first start making cake in France?), and my mother says: It's time! We get out a beautiful glass jar of yogurt, and I measure yogurt, and milk, and flour, and whatever else I use in that jar. And then, I save the jar forever! Except, of course it doesn't happen that way. This is definitely not my first cake, and my yogurt came in a big plastic tub. Oh well, better late in Philadelphia than never in France.

For my recipe, I always meant to try Dorie Greenspan's EVO Yogurt Cake. Unfortunately, as so often happens, I didn't have all the ingredients she required. No lime for zesting, no extra virgin olive oil (well, actually there was EVOO in my cupboard - but I was so convinced it was not extra virgin I never even bothered to look...sigh). Regardless, I tweaked Dorie's recipe using lemon juice instead of the lime and regular old vegetable oil. It was still delicious. Moist and slightly lemony on the inside with those delicious browned edges that I always seem to nibble off a cake before I know what I'm doing. It lasted exactly one full day in my apartment, and then was gone. Sliced off and eaten with strawberry jam, this cake was far too good to last. Once again, I figured I would post this even though am still working on the uploading pictures front. It'll happen soon, believe in me :) AND its happened! Yay!



Yogurt Loaf Cake
(Only Slightly Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's EVO Yogurt Cake Recipe)

Makes 8 servings 

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour 
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt 
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice 
1/2 cup Plain Yogurt
3 Large Eggs 
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract 
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil  

Center a rack in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. In one medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together, then set aside. Pour the sugar and lemon juice into another medium bowl, mixing them together until the sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until well-blended. Then, whisk in the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the oil. The batter will be thick and shiny. Scrape it into the loaf pan, and place in the oven. Bake for 55 minutes, or until it is golden and starts to come away from the sides. Cool on a wire rack for five minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold and cool to room temperature right side up.

You can keep the cake at room temperature for at least 4 days or freeze it for up to 2 months.
 



The Last Picture before Demolition

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