Sunday, May 03, 2020

Bon Appétit: Earl Grey Yogurt Cake


I'm not sure I can even count the number of recipes that I've made that are inspired by the fact that I have leftover ingredients that I really don't want to go to waste.  But what do you do with a bunch of plain yogurt when you're sick of making it into parfaits for breakfast?  You make this very delicious tea cake, that what.  I definitely used tea from bags, and it was still fantastic, so do whatever is easiest.  Life is stressful enough.

Note: I thought the end result, while delicious, was overly oily, so next time I plan to cut the oil back to ⅔ cup.  I recommend you do, too.

Earl Grey Yogurt Cake
From Bon Appétit, February 2020

1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal or 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
3 tablespoons loose-leaf Earl Grey tea or ¼ cup tea from bags
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly coat a 9x5-inch or 8½x4½-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil and line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on long sides.

Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl to combine.

Vigorously whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl 1 minute (seriously, time it!); mixture should be pale yellow and frothy. Whisk in yogurt, Earl Grey tea, and vanilla extract.

Gradually stream in vegetable oil, whisking constantly until incorporated. (Place a kitchen towel under your bowl to stabilize it so that you have two free hands.) Add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Gently tap pan against surface to eliminate any air bubbles.

Sprinkle evenly with raw or granulated sugar. Bake cake until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Let cool 15 minutes in pan, then run a butter knife or offset spatula between the cake and pan to release. Lift it out using parchment overhang and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature (or even better, toast slices and slather them with butter!).