We food bloggers are creating quite the online ouvre. While some of us are leaving behind breast cupcakes, the rest are leaving behind fabulous recipes. Case in point: Clotilde’s Blueberry Yogurt Cake:
And David’s frozen yogurt recipe which I applied to a recently acquired tub of sour cherries making Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt:
The primary ingredients for both these recipes came from–yup, you guessed it–the farmer’s market. The blueberries and sour cherries I bought from the same stand. I was really only going to buy blueberries but when the woman there mentioned sour cherries I remembered reading an article that said: “If you see sour cherries at the market, snatch them up. You can put them in the freezer and use them after sour cherry season is over.” So I reluctantly requested the cherries too and I went home with two fruits, unsure of what I would do.
The answer came by way of the third ingredient, an ingredient I acquired two weeks earlier at the Ronnybrook Dairy stand. Yup: yogurt. (Cue Mel Brooks: “Ya hoid of me?”) I knew yogurt would last a long time in my fridge and I figured I could concoct something to do with it–maybe eat it with berries and honey or use it to coat my cat after setting her on fire. I figured yogurt was a good thing to have so I bought it. And I forgot about it. Until the blueberries and the cherries came along.
With the blueberries, I immediately went to Clotilde’s site because I remembered her posting about a blueberry yogurt cake. Sure enough, I just did an onsite search, found the recipe and ran to my kitchen to get started.
It was very easy to do. Wildly easy to do. In fact, you should do it right now. I’ll wait. You’ll be done in 10 minutes.
The interesting ingredient is–yes, right, we get it: yogurt.
You mix that in with eggs, sugar, vanilla, rum. And then you add flour, baking powder, and blueberries. That’s the recipe. Into the pan it goes:
I sprinkled the top with vanilla sugar I keep on hand for moments where I want to sprinkle a yogurt cake with sugar. Into the oven it went and all seemed right in the world.
And then? TRAGEDY STRUCK.
It came out of the oven all beautiful and golden brown. Let’s admire it once again, even though we’ve seen this picture above:
I let it cool on the rack, as suggested, for 10 minutes. And then I flipped it on to the rack. That was smooth and easy. I peeled the paper off the bottom. Now I wanted it to be right side up again so the top wouldn’t have creases from the rack. So I flipped it on to a plate. BAD IDEA! Because once it’s on the plate right side up, how to you keep it right side up and transfer it back to the rack? With your hands? Do you try to lift it with your hands and move it but wouldn’t that…
To quote Mr. Bill: “OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
And when you try to flip the rest by hand:
“DOUBLE OH NOOOOOOO!!!!”
As Gerald wrote on the Flickr comments: “Massacred!”
It’s true: all that beauty destroyed in one stupid gesture. I’ve learnt my lesson well this time–and like Madonna, I’ve lived to tell. I will not flip anything over on to a plate ever again. And since this wasn’t for a party or anything, it was really just for me and Craig and whoever else came over, I put it all crumbled up in tupperware and picked at it and it does taste oh so good. The yogurt keeps it moist and light and the blueberries really pop and blend well with the sugar, vanilla and rum. ‘Tis a good cake recipe. And probably not that bad for you.
****
And now a success story. A David Lebovitz story. It involves cherries:
David’s recipe for frozen yogurt was for strawberries. I had cherries. Sour cherries. What could I do?
I pitted the cherries with my fingers (I need to buy a cherry pitter.) I put them in a bowl and then, completely on my own approximation, added sugar. I added about 2/3rds a cup. I also added a splash of vodka, as suggested by David. This is what it looked like at the start:
And this is what it looked like an hour later:
Them cherries give up lots o’juice. And that juice is oh so sweet and tart.
You pour it all, cherries and juice and love, into a food processor. Then you add 1 cup of yogurt and blend. The yogurt better be plain and good:
Then into the fridge to chill for an hour and once that hour’s up you put it in your ice cream maker. Let it churn, churn, churn, and out comes:
Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt!
Inspired by David, patented by me—this is a fun way to use cherries. I’m sure there are other ways to use cherries too. Like you can bake them into a cake, but just be careful when you flip it over.
And that’s today’s contribution to my ouvre. Have a great weekend!
Next time you need to depan a delicate cake – invert it onto a plate. Take another plate and put over the bottom. Now pick up both plates, with the cake in between, trying not to squeeze it ( put a couple of fingers betwen the plates to space them). Invert and la il est.
Too bad the cake broke up, it looked so delisch. I need to come to NY and give cake flipping lessons (and try out some of them great restaurants.)
AG,
I make a lot of yogurt cakes, inspired by Clotilde and Sara Kate from Apartment Therapy Kitchen. There’s a recipe for a rosemary and orange yogurt cake on AT Kitchen that’s really fun too.
I have had my yogurt cakes crumble up like that too. Now I let them cool in the pan. I also find that I need to bake them longer than the recipe says.
De-lurking to say–my cherry-pitting weapon of choice is a good old-fashioned hairpin. Stick it in the stem end (bottom of the “u” first), hook it around the pit, give a tug, and voila! Pitted cherry.
Love your blog–keep it up!
i use the “two flip” method (yeah, i just made that up): set a plate over the top of your tin and flip over. then place your rack over the cake on the plate and flip once more. voila. no rack marks on the top. no crumbling everywhere.
Get a springform pan!
You still have to flip, and i do a double flip as well, but seeing the sides of the cake, gives you a good indication of what its going to be like when flipping!
I second the double-flipping 2-plate method, it works everytime, but who cares, it still looks pretty damn good anyway.
The tale of your cake is absolutely heartbreaking. I think my heart actually jumped a bit when I saw the “after plate flip” photo. I feel your pain and agree with a fellow poster- get a springform pan!!
I went to the chocolateandzucchini site to look at the recipe. No rum in their version. Theirs is in metric units, but I think it works out to be (thanks to one of the commentators)and in standard baking nomenclature:
—————————
sift
1 2/3 cups flour with
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
cream
1 stick butter with
1 2/3 cups sugar
beat in, one at a time
3 eggs, then
1 cup yogurt or sour cream,
1 tsp vanilla,
mix in flour (don’t overmix)
Pour half the batter in a greased 9 inch pan (the bottom of which I would line with greased wax paper) add 1/2 of
3-4 cups blueberries
add the rest of the batter, then the rest of the berries
and spinkle the top with 1 1/2 oz brown sugar.
Bake 360 F for 1 hour, under the top is brown and a knife comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack (ha ha). Even better the next day.
—————–
Is this the recipe? What’s the texture like?
One commentor said it had the consistency of bread pudding. Did yours? If so, no wonder you had so much trouble depanning it.
Pardon the above posting – it is NOT the recipe referred to. I can only say the links at the site led me astray.
I found the one with rum in it. So the actual recipe is “yogurt cake” to which blueberries are added.
Oh no! Killed by the flipping! Next time turn it out by placing a dish towel over the top, then flipping the pan over so the cake falls out onto a plate. Then put a dish towel over the now exposed bottom and flip it again onto another plate. Voila! Unbroken yummines. :)
Have you posted about ice cream makers? I have one, a name brand and it never, ever freezes my creations to my liking? What are you using?
Hi Adam, you do not need to invest in a cherry pitter, just use a chef’s knife and smash the cherries the way you would to peel garlic. Voilà, you saved a few bucks to buy more cherries :)
I had a bing cherry ice cream last night that had about 1/2 the cherries ground as you did and 1/2 in big chunks. It was wonderful! I will have to try it with the sour cherries.
Clotilde has a specific recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake. (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/09/blueberry_coffee_cake.php). I’ve made it and it’s very good. She gives metric measurements, which I converted using her guidelines. (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2003/10/conversions_equivalents.php)Here’s the recipe, as I have adapted it*:
1-1/2 cups flour (plus 2 tablespoons)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-4 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch non-stick springform cake pan.
Cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder; mix into wet ingredients (don’t overmix).
Pour half of the batter into cake pan. Put half of the berries on top. Cover with the rest of the batter, top with berries, and sprinkle top evenly with brown sugar.
Bake for an hour, or until golden on top and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove springform and allow to cool completely. This cake tastes even better the next day.
*Clotilde has you whipping this up in a food processor (?!). But I think a mixer is the better appliance for this recipe. Also, she recommends using a cake pan with a removable bottom. I think a springform pan is easier (after baking, remove the springform, leaving the cake on the pan bottom).
1) Gateau situation, variation on a theme: Place PLATE over the top and flip the cake one more time so it’s upside down on your plate. Okay. Now, place rack securely on the pale bottom that is now on top. Keep everything secure like an oreo with the cake being the fluffy center and flip one more time. Voila. Plate is on top. Rack is on bottom. Rack is now on table. Lift off plate. To move the cooled cake to a cake stand or a pretty plate, repeat process, removing rack and replacing it with its final destination. Flip.
2) As for the naughty cupcake entry linked to this report, you should know that the nuns of Sicily might have provided inspiration had you only asked. They make a kind of filled pastry called *minni di virgini* or “breasts of virgins” that are shaped like domes with a red cherry placed on top.
Hi! I am looking for a yogurt cake recipe that can be made using boxed cake mix. Does anyone have a recipe for that? Thanks!