Saturday, May 5, 2012

Gâteau au Yaourt: Yogurt Cake


This is a cake that my family has been making for a long time; I think we got the recipe from some of my cousins. It is a very simple and customizable snack cake that uses yogurt as a flavor base but doesn't actually taste like yogurt. The original recipe has all the measurements (except the eggs) based on the size of a pot of yogurt. Unfortunately, yogurt pots in France are smaller than in the US (they contain 150g of yogurt instead of 170g.) To make this recipe in the US, I find a glass that holds a bit less than a cup of water and use that as my measurement tool.
Once you have made the batter, you can pretty much add whatever flavor you want. The cake in the photo has chocolate chips and unsweetened coconut flakes, but I have also had success with pears, nutella  (mix nutella into some of the batter and swirl that into the rest of the batter,) dried fruit, etc. You could could probably make this a savory cake by removing most of the sugar and putting cheese or bacon or herbs in.
And to prove how easy this recipe is, I was able to make it in the kitchen of my college dorm with my bf.

Gâteau au Yaourt:

Ingredients
  • 3 eggs (separated)
  • 1.5 pots sugar
  • 1 pot yogurt
  • 0.5 pots oil or 60g butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 pots flour
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • up to 1.5 cups filling (ie 1 cup chocolate chips + 0.5 cup unsweetened coconut)

Instructions
  1. Preheat an oven to 350F.
  2. Beat yolks with sugar until thick and white.
  3. Add egg whites, yogurt, oil, and vanilla, still beating.
  4. Add remaining ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) but not the filling. Mix by hand.
  5. Stir in the filling gently.
  6. Grease a cake pan or loaf pan and pour in the batter.
  7. Bake for 40 (cake pan) to 50 (loaf pan) minutes
  8. Enjoy on a picnic or as a snack or casual dessert! You can serve it with greek yogurt and berries or dress it up with whipped cream.