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.