All roads lead to cake

So, the bad news is that the content of this post is completely un-original. The good news is that I got to try out a recipe that has been lurking in the back of my mind for months, and the better news is that it was delicious!

I feel as though this recipe has been following me around for the better part of two years, but somehow I hadn't managed to find the time to give it a whirl. Now that I have tasted it, I am irked that I have been missing out for so long and spent the last two years of my life not eating this cake.

My first inspiration for this post was a glance at The Smitten Kitchen and, as always, there were at least 3 new recipes since I last checked the site (which was only a couple of days ago)! One of which included a drool-inducing picture of a lime yogurt cake with blackberry sauce. The question of how Deb has time to cook as often as she does with a little baby kicking around the house is only secondary to, who is it that eats all the food she blogs about?! Anyway, back to the point.

The second inspiration occured last night as I unearthed Molly's spectacular book, A Homemade Life, and began to re-read it for perhaps the third time. It was part way through, as she begins to tell the story of how she met her husband, that I was once again greeted with a recipe for yogurt cake. I remember my interest in a cake made with yogurt being piqued when I read her book the first (and the second) time. But last night the inevitability was obvious. It was time to whip out the yogurt and give this cake a chance!

I decided to go with Molly's lemon scented cake due to the fact that I had a bag of Meyer lemons in the fridge that were slowly shriveling on account that they never made it into the lemon tart for which they were meant. I also realized that I only had lowfat yogurt, which she admonished I not use in place of full fat yogurt. What to do? Then it dawned on me that I had a jar of creme fraiche sitting pitifully unused in the fridge and I felt fairly confident that half lowfat yogurt and half creme fraiche adds up to full fat yogurt. (I was never very good at math, but this equation makes perfect sense to me.)

The clincher that this might just be my new favorite 'everyday cake' recipe is the fact that you can make it in two bowls, with a spoon. No mixer. No beaters. No waiting for butter and sugar to cream. No stopping and scraping between ingredients. It's fairly similar to pancake batter in that you just mix dry and wet together, and voila! you have a beautiful sunshine colored batter ready to pour in your pan, and (even better) later to put in your mouth!

So, though this post is not in the least original and I can't take any credit for it whatsoever, that is no reason for you not to make this cake. Please, I beg of you, don't make the same mistake I did. Do not wait two years to make this cake. Don't make it stalk you and pop up in unexpected places before you give it a place in your repertoire.

French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon

Taken from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

Cake:

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

1/2 c. well-stirred plain whole-milk yogurt (not lowfat or nonfat)

1 c. sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

Syrup:

1/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 c. lemon juice

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar, sifted

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter or cooking spray. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, and grease it too.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the lemon zest and whisk to mix thoroughly.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring to mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir to just combine. Add the oil and stir well. At first it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep going, and it will come together into a smooth, pale yellow batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, and invert the cake onto a wide, flat plate or pan. Remove and discard the parchement paper. Invert the cake back onto the rack so that it sits upright, with the shinier, slightly domed side facing up. Set the rack over a rimmed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together the syrup ingredients. Spoon the syrup slowly atop the warm cake. Some of the syrup will run down the sides and onto the baking sheet; don't worry. Cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine the icing ingredients. Whisk well to dissolve the sugar completely. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake.

Serve immediately - the icing will still be soft and a bit juicy - or wait until the icing has firmed up, about 1 hour.

Yield: 8 servings

* My notes and alterations to the recipe:

I used Meyer lemons in place of standard lemons, only because I had them on hand. They gave the cake a pleasant perfume that you may not get otherwise.

I substituted half creme fraiche and half lowfat yogurt for full fat and it worked well. Not sure what would happen if you subbed all lowfat yogurt.

I like to use a Microplane for the citrus zest; I think it produces the finest zest.

I brushed rather than spooned the syrup on my cake as I felt it gave more even coverage.