Bonjour and welcome to recipe no. 16.
Yogurt cake remains the very first culinary lesson French children receive. Even my mother, who fled from the kitchen, transmitted its secret to me. It's the recipe of absolute simplicity: no scale needed, no learned measurements. Everything is dosed with the little yogurt pot itself.
For though yogurt doesn't come from our lands, it found passionate adoption here. Born in the Balkans or Near East, it arrived in France at the beginning of the 20th century through pharmacies: it was then prescribed as a beneficial remedy, good for fragile intestines, especially for delicate children.
It was in the sixties that it conquered its freedom: it left the pharmacy to settle in our family refrigerators. There it was, declining into a thousand flavors, inviting itself into our snacks, our diets, our breakfasts and our pastries. Today, France counts among Europe's most fervent yogurt lovers.
A little confidence: when my mother was carrying me, she devoured twelve pots of "Bonne Maman" brand vanilla yogurt (translation: “Good Mom”), each day! Perhaps that's where my immoderate love of dairy products was born.
The traditional recipe asks for only one yogurt pot, which suffices in truth. But I like to bite into a cake of extreme tenderness, almost moist with softness. So I use two, always flavored - vanilla or coconut - and I confess my weakness for coconut-flavored “Activia” which invariably gives me wonders.
I've been making this cake for years, and I confess to having explored many different oils. None equals grapeseed oil. Its discreet, almost imperceptible fragrance leaves all the space to vanilla. Unlike sunflower oil, it leaves no bitterness on the palate. Very fluid, it embraces the batter perfectly and offers a supple, tender and light crumb. It also helps the cake keep its moistness longer, without drying out.
For sugar, most recipes demand two pots - it's far too much. One suffices amply, and I use exclusively cane sugar. It brings a more aromatic taste, subtle caramelized notes, and delicately colors the crumb with a pleasant golden hue.
There are the secrets of this cake that crosses generations. Perhaps that's what true cooking is: the kind that passes from mother to daughter, from hand to hand, with no other pretension than doing good.
Some news from my culinary universe:
La Mijote just received its first article on the InStyle magazine website in Greece, followed by nearly forty thousand people, and without having solicited anything! I'm particularly proud of this. Read the article
I wanted to thank from the bottom of my heart my faithful readers and this wonderful Substack community that accompanies me with such kindness. Lately, your eyes have multiplied on my Notes and publications, your likes and comments warm my days.
The photograph that seduced you most lately is the one where I captured a lavender field, one summer evening in Valensole. The spectacle was so beautiful that I had to share it with you. It received nearly six thousand five hundred likes - thank you for such a warm welcome!
Yogurt Cake
Gâteau au yaourt
Ingredients
Serves 8:
2 vanilla or coconut yogurt cups (2 × 125 g = 250 g)
4 eggs
1 yogurt pot of sugar
1 packet of vanilla sugar
1 tsp vanilla powder (or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)
3 yogurt pots of flour
1 packet of baking powder (11 g)
1 pinch of salt
1 yogurt pot of grape seed oil
A bit of butter for the pan (optional)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F), fan setting if available.
In a large mixing bowl, pour in the two yogurt cups. Rinse and dry one of the empty pots to use it as your measuring tool.
Add the 4 eggs, 1 pot of sugar, the vanilla sugar, and the vanilla powder or extract. Whisk until smooth and slightly frothy.
Add the 3 pots of flour, the baking powder, and the pinch of salt. Stir gently, just enough to combine everything without overmixing.
Pour in 1 pot of grape seed oil and mix again until the batter is smooth and even.
Pour the batter into a cake pan, buttered or lined with parchment paper if needed.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on your oven. Check doneness by inserting a knife or toothpick in the center, it should come out clean or just slightly moist, with no raw batter.
Let the cake cool down, then remove it from the pan.
Thank you for reading, let me know what you think in the comments!
Pictures so good I can nearly taste a perfect recipe.
That texture is perfection 😍