Gâteau au Yaourt

Yogurt Cake

Une recette pour Gâteau au Yaourt is a found in almost every cuisine française, French kitchen. Il est très facile de faire, very easy to make, and it is enjoyed by the young, the old, and everyone in between. The key to its simplicity is it uses a pot de yaourt, a tub of yogurt, and the empty tub becomes the measure for the rest of the ingredients. This no-scale recipe is a notable exception to the normal méthode française, in which quantities are measured by weight rather than volume.

Gâteau au Yaourt is very popular with kids, who love a simple, moist and fluffy cake. But what they especially like is that they can make it almost entirely on their own. None of the steps are difficult, none of the ingredients are weighed, and with the intensive sandbox training kids have, they are usually experts at the emptying and filling of small-sized containers.

The basic recette pour gâteau au yaourt lends itself to many variations. You can add citrus zest or peel for a tasty lemon or orange cake, you can add nuts to the batter, you can slice the baked cake in two and spread a layer of jam in the middle, you can add fresh raspberries or blueberries to the batter, you can add a (drained) can of sliced pears - whatever strikes your fancy.

Without further ado,
À table!

INGRÉDIENTS:

2 tubs of plain yogurt (125 ml each, the French standard; U.S. readers: 125 ml = slightly more than 4 ounces. The closest U.S. equivalent size is the 113 ml tub from Dannon (Danone in Europe), such as in their "Activa" line.)
2 tubs sugar
1/2 tub vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tubs sifted flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3 eggs

MÉTHODE:

1) Preheat oven to 350º (180º C)
2) Generously grease and flour a 9" (22 cm) round cake pan. (For the photo, Louis la Vache used a fluted quiche pan.)
3) In a large mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, the oil and the sugar with a wooden spoon.
4) Stir in the vanilla.
5) Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
6) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
7) Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 or 4 additions, stirring until just combined. (Like a muffin, pancake or waffle batter, you don't want to over-mix.)
8) Pour the batter into the cake pan.
9) Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until the top springs back from a light touch or a toothpick comes out clean.
10) Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack, wait at least 10 minutes before depanning.
11) Dust with powdered sugar if you wish for a little garnish.

Et voila! Bon appétit!