Friday, July 14, 2006

Orange Yoghurt Cake

Orange Yoghurt Cake

There are simple pleasures in life that I dare not take for granted. There are the obvious ones like enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon at home or swimming in the ocean on a blistering hot summer’s day or sleeping in past nine when you know everyone else has gone to work.

And perhaps there are certainly other pleasures that one comes to discover for themselves. Like getting a series of green lights when you are running late for an imporatant meeting, or maybe its running around the house in your underwear because you know that you have it all to yourself, or possibly it's when you crane your neck all the way back just to slurp the last drops of melted gelato that have trickled to the bottom of the cone. These, I think are the stuff of life.

So if we are speaking of life's simple pleasures, then I must include this recipe for Orange Yoghurt Cake, because the pleasure one derrives from eating this cake far exceeds any guilt brought on by consuming more calories than one can expend. Ever since that palatal epiphany I experienced with these creations, I have been fanatically swift to add zests into my batters. I'm like a mad woman, opportunistic and relentless, continually seeking ways in which I can sneak in, I mean incorporate, any type of zest into a recipe.

It certainly has been for the better, as that I find zests actually impart more robust flavours as opposed to juice which, for the most part adds a slight sharpness to batter rather than a delicate tang. What's more, zests provide baked goods with intense hints of aromatic flavour that cannot be achieved by juice alone. I also like to add that using a high quality, full-fat yoghurt adds to the depth of flavour to this cake, none of that cheap artificially sweetened stuff will do. So of course I used my favourite youghurt, as I always have a tub ready in my fridge.

So, as far as culinary delights go, this cake is hard to overlook. Paired with some fresh slices of fruit or with a dollop of your favourite yoghurt, it's rapturous. Admitedly, I do gush quite a fair bit about many a dessert but this one in particular I, ashamedly admit, have daydreams about. Yes, it's quite embarrasing and I am blushing as we speak, but what better pleasure is there than to dream about cake? Anyway, before I lose you all, here is the recipe.

Orange Yoghurt Cake

Orange Yoghurt Cake

2 cups plain all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
zest from 2 oranges
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
juice from 1 orange
¾ cup full fat yoghurt

Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line a round baking tin with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the orange zest and mix until combined.
Add the eggs, one at a time mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Then add the orange juice and yoghurt and mix until smooth.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until incorporated, be careful not to overwork the batter.
Pour mixture into lined baking tin and spread batter to the edges.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes.
Pierce cake with a toothpick and if it comes away clean then the cake is done.
Rest in its tin for 5 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
Serve with slices of oranges and a dollop of yoghurt or whipped cream.

Orange Yoghurt Cake

irresistible!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, irresistible, I would agree. What intrigues me most about this cake is that it looks very plain and a little rough and still manages to scream "I will be so much TASTE!
In this, I'm guessing you use a microplaner to zest and not a bar zester, am I correct.

Anonymous said...

JUST GORGEOUS and sounds delicious too...is it any wonder I featured your blog as my Blog of the Week.

Great post, thanks for sharing, G

Rachel said...

that looks really yummy!

Jen said...

Tanna- yes the cake can deceive you because it looks a bit "plain jane" but wow the taste will knock your socks of!
I did use a microplane grater... what is a bar zester?

Geraldine- thanks! You're making me blush!

Rachel- it certainly was, no doubt about it.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! An afternoon delight!

Anonymous said...

hey ho.. i'm in sydney already.. wanna meet up

Raquel said...

I love orange cakes! Got some frozen oranges to bake them all year. Your cake looks FANTASTIC!

Jen said...

Geneve- thanks, I wish there were some way of sharing cake over the net...but I guess you will have to make it for yourself : )

Swee- let's definitely tee up a day when we can get together! Definitely will involve some food!

Guru- thants a great idea to store oranges in your freezer. I may have to do that because I love this cake!

Anna (Morsels and Musings) said...

i agree. this does look irresistible. orange is always a wonderful match with yoghurt. i once ate a persian orange cake, sticky with orange syrup, which was topped with a wonderful sour sheep's yoghurt. sooooo good. this one is a keeper.

Anonymous said...

yum i love cakes with yoghurt. i made one this week which totally cuts out butter and replaces the fat content with yoghurt and vegetable oil. its the yoghurt cake from chocolate and zucchini and i highly recommend it.

lovely cake stand too!

Betty Carlson said...

Looks delicious and a little easier than the homemade pasta! I can see there's some great cooking going on here.

Anonymous said...

This recipe looks great and what a gorgeous photo.

I am a late adapter of the microplane zester and can't believe I waited so long to get one; I look for any excuse to use it and here is a terrific excuse!

dumoria said...

I made this cake last night and it was yummy. I have a question: is the center supposed to be fluffy? Mine was pretty dense.

Would replacing the 2 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder by 2 cups of self-raising flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder keep me from overworking the batter? I had seived them but was afraid to have lumps. Thanks for the help.

Jen said...

Dumoria- despite how it looks in the photograph this cake is pretty dense. The texture is like that of a butter cake, so it looks like yours turned out quite right.
To get a fluffier texture I would suggest maybe replacing the two eggs with 1 egg and 1 egg white.
But i'm no baking expert so this is only a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

Hi, my husband (Mr. Dessert) found your blog and sent me a link. It's ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! We're vegan in the process of making the transition to raw foods. I have a really great non-dairy recipe for yogurt and today I'm making this cake! THANKS for the recipe - I'm always in the market for new and wonderful tastes!