Recipe Credit: Dorie Greenspan
Very few of my French friends bake anything fancy at home. In fact, most of them don’t bake at all. And with a pâtisserie on every other corner, it’s easy to see why. But there’s one dessert that just about every French person makes. A recipe most of them know by heart. And one that calls up memories of birthday parties and family suppers, picnics and trips to the beach: the Yogurt Cake. While it can be made in any shape, it’s usually baked in a loaf pan, and it is a quintessential loaf cake: simple, golden, crowned, cracked, moist and flavorful. Mixed by hand. Sometimes flavored with a little lemon zest. Sometimes made with a combination of all-¬purpose and almond flours. Often undecorated, just as often covered with a slick of jam. Sometimes served with whipped cream. Sometimes with ice cream. Sometimes it’s the base for berries. Most times, it’s a teatime cake or a snacker.
As near as I can tell, the cake dates to the 1950s. I’m figuring that it was the creation of a yogurt company because, unlike almost every other recipe in the French repertoire, this one relies on volume measures and the original “measuring cup” for the cake was a yogurt container.
Once I learned how to make this cake, I made it over and over. I fiddled with the flavors and I fiddled with the shape. I added spices and I added herbs. I used olive oil and I used flavorless oil. I made a chocolate version. I made a cake with dried fruit and one with chunks of fresh fruit. I cut the cake into layers and filled and frosted it. Of course, I also made the cake for birthdays and added candles.
GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START
Oven: The recipe was tested in a conventional/non-fan oven.
Flour: In my recipes, 1 cup all-purpose flour equals 136 grams.
Yogurt: For years, I made yogurt cakes with regular yogurt, and I loved them. I still do. But nowadays, I often make them with thick, tangy Greek yogurt. See what you think. Whatever you use, try to pull the yogurt out of the fridge in advance— it’s good to have all the ingredients as close to room temperature as you can get them.
Centering the crack: To encourage the cake to develop a nice, rounded rise in the center and a substantial crack, slide it into the oven then, after 10 minutes, plunge a buttered bench scraper into the center of the cake.
Toppings (optional): The cake is perfect without a topping, but you can make either a jam or sugar glaze for it. Instructions for the icing follow. For a jam topping, bring some jam, jelly or marmalade and a spoonful of water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to melt the jam, and use this to shine the top of your cake.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
For the Cake
Ingredients:
- 204 grams (1-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
- 1 lemon or lime
- About 115 grams (1/2 cup) thick plain whole-milk Greek
- yogurt, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) neutral oil
Direction:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Coat the interior of an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan with baker’s spray or butter the pan, dust it with flour and tap out the excess. Once baked, the cake releases from the pan pretty reliably, but even so, I like to run a piece of parchment over the bottom and up the two long sides of the pan. Helpful, but not critical.
Whisk the flour together with the baking powder and salt.
Put the sugar in a large bowl. Grate the zest of the lemon or lime over the sugar (hold on to the fruit so that you can use the juice for the glaze, if you’re making it); reach into the bowl and use your fingers to rub the ingredients together until the sugar is aromatic. Whisk in the yogurt. One by one, add the eggs, giving each a good whisking after it goes in and giving everything a few energetic beats at the end. Whisk in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Switch to a flexible spatula and gradually fold in the oil. It will seem like a lot of oil, but it’s just the right amount, and when it’s fully incorporated, you’ll have a thick, smooth, lovely batter with a light sheen. Scrape the batter into the pan and, if necessary, smooth the top.
Slide the pan into the oven. After the cake has baked for 10 minutes, butter both sides of a bench scraper, pull out the oven rack (or if it’s easy and safe to reach the cake, leave it in place) and plunge the scraper into the center of the cake, going about 1 inch deep. Return the rack to its position. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes more (the total baking time is between 50 and 55 minutes), or until the cake has risen and is golden, the top has cracked and, most important, a tester inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Transfer the pan to a rack and wait for 5 minutes, then run a table knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it. Turn the cake out onto the rack— or lift it onto the rack, if you’ve used parchment, and peel away the parchment. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature right side up.
For the optional sugar glaze
Ingredients:
- 60 grams (1/2 cup) confectioners’ sugar
- A little milk (or freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice)
Direction:
It’s best to make the glaze shortly before you’re ready to serve. Put the sugar in a bowl and start to add milk (or lemon or lime juice) about 1/2 teaspoon at a time, stirring to blend. You’re aiming for a glaze that falls off the tip of your spoon and can be poured or spread over the cake, so gradually add more liquid as needed. Pour the glaze over the cake and just let it fall as it will, or use a small offset spatula or table knife to spread it. Give the glaze a little time to set before slicing the cake.
Storing:
If you haven’t glazed the cake, you can wrap it well and hold it at room temperature for about 4 days or freeze it for up to 1 month; thaw in the wrapper. The glazed cake is best the day it is made, although it will keep at room temperature for 1 day.