This recipe is “the epitome of easy cake”, says Emelia Jackson.
Her version of the ratio-driven French yoghurt cake or “gateau au yaourt” requires very little equipment and is simple enough for kids to tackle.
“It’s just such an easy cake to whip up at any time,” she says.
The recipe includes a sour cherry compote to serve with the cake, but the ingredients list calls for frozen fruit, making it feasible year-round.
“It offers a bit of tartness, a bit of sweetness, dresses up what is fundamentally a very simple cake.”
Sour cherries are also particularly meaningful to Emelia.
“When I was growing up my grandma — my baba — always had morello cherries in jars in the pantry or sour cherries in the freezer. It’s just a very Eastern European ingredient to incorporate into your daily life.”
However, she says the formula can also be easily adapted.
The compote could be omitted and different fruit or even chocolate chips could be folded into the mixture instead.
“It’s a beautiful one just to have with a little cup of tea in the afternoon, but you can also use it as the base cake or like a layer cake for celebrations.”
Tips:An oil-based cake retains moisture for longer than a butter-based cake, and so Emelia says this cake can cater tea breaks and help fill lunch boxes for three to four days after baking.The sour cherry compote can be included or simply left out. It can be enjoyed with just a dusting of icing sugar.You can fold chocolate chips through the batter “like a chocolate muffin cake” or add stewed fruit too. “The moisture of stewed fruit through the batter adds something really beautiful as well,” Emelia says.Emelia says she’s also made variations of this recipe that are similar to an upside-down cake by drizzling some honey into the base of the tin, laying out batons of rhubarb and adding the cake batter on top.This upside-down method could work with your favourite seasonal fruit, such as stone fruit or blueberries.
Dining and Cooking