oh la la!! French Lemon Yogurt Cake

I decided randomly today that I wanted to bake a cake. I need no provacation or reason to make a cake, other than I just feel like it. I wanted to bake a cake that was simple and that would not cost me lots of money to buy all sorts of crazy ingredients that I did not have. Thus, we have French yogurt cake. I first heard of this cake when I was in paris but at the time was much more impressed with the beautiful, shiny glazed fruit tarts I saw in the window of every bakery (or if you are french, patisserie). I actually saw a version of this cake in a pastry shop I visited and have since seen it featured on several food blogs that I read. I assumed it was simply the French equivalent of a yellow sponge cake and promptly forgot about it, assuming it would be fairly boring and bland. Turns out, it is very similar but much more moist, tasty, and still slightly crumbly. It couldn’t be easier to make and the best thing about it is that you can add whatever you want to it. I made mine tonight with strawberries because they are in season and delicious right now. I also added lemon zest to the batter and made a lemon glaze for the top. It would be wonderful with any combination of fruit or nuts you have on hand (cherries and walnuts, lemon and blueberries, poached pears and brown sugar, raspberry and dark chocolate chunks…I could go on and on.) The recipe I used instructed you to first make a lemon syrup to pour over top (which made the cake amazingly moist and lemony) and then a light lemon frosting to go on top. I tend to not love cakes that are overly sweet and this bordered on being almost too sweet for me (even though I decreased the amount of sugar in the glaze and the syrup). However, my boyfriend, who has a major sweet tooth, declared it perfect and had a second slice. When I make it again, I think I will likely omit the frosting that goes on top but if you like sweet desserts, I say go ahead and use the full amount of sugar the recipe calls for. You only live once!!

I adapted this recipe from a wonderful food blog that I read Orangette.com . It is actually a combination of two different french yogurt cakes that she featured on her site with a few minor changes.

1 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup ground almonds (If you want to omit this you can. Just add an extra ½ cup flour. However, I think it adds to the flavor and gives the cake a slight crunch)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest ( I added much more, maybe 5-6 tsp because I wanted to be able to actually taste the lemon)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (full fat yogurt is best. This cake has no butter so you need the fat from whole milk)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup, plus 3 tbsp lemon juice
5-6 strawberries sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom on the pan with wax paper or parchment paper and grease the paper.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. In a separate large bowl, add yogurt, sugar and eggs, stirring until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine, then add the oil and mix until you have a pale yellow batter. Pour half of the batter into the pan and top with the strawberries. Pour the remaining batter over top the berries. Bake for 35 minutes.

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan. Invert the cake onto the rack.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Whisk until smooth and spoon the syrup over the top of the cake, allowing to soak in and dribble down the sides. Cool the cake completely.

Once cooled, combine the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar with the 3 tbsp of lemon juice to make an icing. Spoon icing over the cake.