a whisk and a spoon

Yogurt Cake with Currant-Raspberry Sauce

I’ve racked up a pretty extensive collection of layer cakes here, and while I love the challenge of prepping multiple components and the decorating practice, every now and again I just want a no-brainer.  I need to simply plop on the couch and eat a giant slab of sheet cake straight from the pan.  Okay, so I probably wouldn’t ever actually do that, but I do enjoy the mental image, and the fact that I could if I wanted to.

When I saw a picture of this yogurt cake in the August issue of Gourmet, I knew I had to make it right away.  Soft cake, sweet icing and bright red sauce on mismatched vintage plates– how pretty!  Never mind that I don’t have any mismatched vintage plates…I knew this would taste just as good on plain white ones. 

I eat yogurt pretty much everyday.  Usually it’s mixed into my granola or whizzed into a smoothie, but I love to bake with it, too–just feels like it healthies-up the butter!  This cake has a really light, moist crumb that is seriously fluffy.  I think adding a little citrus zest would work nicely in it, but I’ll save that for next time.  And there will be a next time, too, because it came together in a snap– just the no-brainer I wanted!  The sauce is gorgeous, and the red currants make it a wee bit tart. I was pleased to have both berries already in the fridge (leftover from my adventures in blanc-manger), but you could easily use all raspberries (and frozen ones, at that) if you can’t find the currants.

Just a couple notes from my kitchen…I used 2% yogurt instead of whole-milk, and I made half a recipe of the cake in an 8-inch square pan, checking it about ten minutes early just to be safe.  I also thought that the original amount of icing was a bit of a sugar bomb, so I only made a sixth (using 1/2 cup of powdered sugar), and I used honey in place of the corn syrup.  But you do as wish, even if you wish to eat it straight from the pan!

Yogurt Cake with Currant-Raspberry Sauce– makes a 13×9-inch cake
from a recipe in Gourmet (August 2009)

Notes: If you can’t find red currants, you can substitute 2 more cups raspberries.
Sauce keeps, chilled, two days.  Cake can be baked and iced one day ahead and kept in a cake keeper (or covered with an inverted roasting pan; do not touch icing) at cool room temperature.

for the cake:
3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, warmed in shell in warm water 10 minutes
2 cups plain whole-milk plain yogurt (not Greek-style) at room temp

for the sauce:
2 cups fresh red currants (1/2 pound), stemmed
4 cups fresh raspberries (16 ounces), divided
2/3 cup granulated sugar

for the icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
scant 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make cake:
-Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter cake pan, then line bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper and butter parchment. Dust with flour, knocking out excess.

-Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

-Beat together butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, at medium speed. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing until just combined. Spread batter evenly in pan and rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.

-Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge. Invert onto a rack and discard parchment. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Make sauce while cake bakes:
-Stir together currants, 2 cups raspberries, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and let stand until juicy, about 15 minutes. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until fruit breaks down, about 8 minutes. Force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Cool sauce.

Make icing and assemble cake:
-Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, cream, and vanilla until smooth.

-Put cake on a platter and spread icing on top in a thick layer, letting it run down sides. Let icing set at least 15 minutes. Serve with sauce and remaining 2 cups raspberries on the side.

Applesauce Snack Cake

No one is jonseing for spring more than I am.  I was plucked from the Sydney winter and plopped right into the New York winter, so I am completely sick of the cold at this point.  Spring may be just around the corner, but we had a mountain of snow dumped on us earlier in the week, so I’m still eating like I’m prepping for hibernation.  Until I see the first rhubarb at the greenmarket, apples and warm spices are what I’m wanting.

I saw the America’s Test Kitchen crew make Applesauce Snack Cake on TV awhile back, and have been thinking about it ever since.  No time like the present whip one up, I’d say.  Their recipe contains a fair bit of butter, so it’s certainly not one of those low-cal applesauce cakes, but it’s moist and nicely spiced…perfect for snacking or, in my case, for desserting.  A little sugar and spice mixture sprinkled over the top before baking makes every thing truly nice (“nice” taking the form of a crispy, crackly, sweet crust).  I made half a recipe, which is the right amount for two people, and it fit nicely into a loaf pan.

Applesauce Snack Cake– makes one 8-inch square cake
adapted from Cooks Illustrated (September 2006)

3/4 cup dried apples (2 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup apple cider
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup sugar (4 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup unsweetened applesauce , room temperature
1 large egg , room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.

-Bring dried apples and cider to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; cook until liquid evaporates and mixture appears dry, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

-Whisk flour and baking soda in medium bowl to combine; set aside. In second medium bowl, whisk sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Measure 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture into small bowl and set aside for topping.

-In food processor, process cooled dried-apple mixture and applesauce until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as needed; set aside. Whisk egg and salt in large bowl to combine. Add sugar-spice mixture and whisk continuously until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add butter in three additions, whisking after each. Add applesauce mixture and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients; using rubber spatula, fold gently until just combined and evenly moistened.

-Turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture evenly over batter. Bake until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

-Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Run knife along cake edges without parchment to release. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut cake and serve.