Sunday 20th May - Apropos of nothing at all - yoghurt cake



the work of the sea

I found this receipe written out in my old school geography book, 
which is where I have been collecting recipes since I made the mistake of giving up geography for maths back in 1970 (If I had known then what I know now I would have stuck with geography, but then if I hadn't been doing a maths degree I would never have met the man I love and married him and I wouldn't be who I am now, so, taking the long view, struggling through maths for three years at uni has worked out for the best.) Anyway, where was I ...  

The basic recipe

1 small pot of plain yoghurt
then use the emptied pot to add

2 pots SR flour
1 and a half pots sugar
quarter pot of mild cooking oil (light olive oil works well)
2 eggs

the work of my pen

Mix well and cook at gas mark 4 for 45 mins (my oven is electric so 170C fan seems to be OK). Timings and temperature depend upon what you are cooking it in - individual cake bites in a bun tin are hotter and quicker. I think the timings above are probably for a loaf tin.

The basic recipe is very plain. To make a decent lemon drizzle version, take a lemon and grate the peel into the mixture. Then, while the cake is cooking, mix the lemon jiuce with four tablespoons white sugar. When you get the cake out, pour the lemon juice/sugar  syrup over the cake and let it cool in the tin.

For a fruit version, use brown SR flour if you have it, and soft brown sugar, add mixed spice (somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon according to taste) and dried mixed fruit - about 6 ounces or two handfuls or maybe that would be 2 or 3 pots of fruit and cook as above.