Berry Easy Yoghurt Cake

Strawberry Yoghurt cake with white chocolate-dipped strawberries

This cake can be considered as one of the milestones in my baking adventures. (Oh Boy, I am so good at making myself sound important!) I started baking cakes rather early. Late school days, as far as I remember. It was with my mother's help, who is a meticulous baker. Also, she has a degree in Home Science, so she used to see to it, that we used the correct amount of all ingredients. I always used to enjoy it, although it sometimes used to be a tiring experience. Because
a) We didn't have a hand-held blender then. My mother still doesn't. Turning the batter by hand can definitely take the sweat out of you towards the end.
b) Being very particular about the quantity of the stuff that goes into it, checking whether none of the utensils/spoons are wet, making sure that you turn the batter always only in one direction can at times be strenuous for the brain.
But as I said, it still used to be fun. Also, the delicious cakes that then used to come out of the oven (which, by the way, was a basic model with no temperature regulator) were always so delicious, that we (my younger sister and I) would look always forward to the next baking session.

So, this particular cake, that I have baked for the Jihva for Ingredients event, was the one which shook the basic foundation of cake-baking for me. It was N, my ex-colleague in UK (French by birth and tired of all the Froggie jokes & presents), who gave me this recipe. By the way, she did not really give me the recipe, she just shouted it out from across the desks. Moreover, the quantities were all approximate. Like she said (read yelled): Two-three eggs. Two-three eggs??? How can anybody be so casual about this? It has to be either two OR three eggs. Same was the case with baking powder. She said that she always used self raising flour for this. But what if I want to use regular flour? Well, I had to work it out myself.

All said and done, N was very very charming. And so is this cake. And the recipe is more so, because it does not require any measuring cups or spoons. What do you measure the ingredients with then? Well, yoghurt pots. That's right. Yoghurt pots. To be precise, a yoghurt pot. You use the same pot, which has the yoghurt that would go into this cake. Great, isn't it?

And yes, N, this post is dedicated to you.

Recipe for Easy Yoghurt Cake

In the centre: Strawberry yoghurt;
In the outer circle, clockwise from top: egg, flour, sugar, egg, oil, sugar, egg, flour, flour

Ingredients:

1 pot strawberry yoghurt with real strawberry pieces (I assume that the quantity is 150g. everywhere.)
3 pots self-raising flour (I used two pots white and one pot wholewheat.)
2 pots sugar
½ pot vegetable oil (I used sunflower.)
1 egg (as opposed to the three featured in the earlier picture as well as in the introduction)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Grease a loaf tin. (I use one made of silicone. Can it technically be called a 'tin'?) Line the base with greaseproof paper, if you like.
3. Beat the egg in a bowl.
4. Add the yoghurt. Measure sugar and oil with the same pot. Add them too and combine well.
5. Measure the self-raising flour again with the same pot, add to the batter and mix thoroughly. You could add all of it in one go, in case using a hand-held mixer. If turning the batter by hand, adding two spoonfuls at a time makes it much easier.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer/knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Take the tin out of the oven and let it cool for five minutes.
8. Turn the cake out on a wire rack and cool completely before serving/storing in an airtight container.

Easy? I told you so.

Strawberry Yoghurt cake

Some handy Notes:
1. In case not using self-raising flour, adding 2 tsp of baking powder to the regular flour gives the same results.
2. You could use yoghurt with any fruit. My personal choice, however, is always strawberry.

Tags: strawberry , strawberries , yogurt , cake