Yoghurt Pot Cake

Hi guys!

Well, it's Monday so I guess you know what this means. I know I vowed to get to you a little more often this year, but with exams coming up (yup, I'm a student) things are a little crazy. This lets me to explain why I chose something sweet for this week's post. Whenever I have to learn and concentrate, I start craving sweets and the easiest way for me to keep a good conscience, or try to at least, is to bake the stuff I eat myself so I know what gets into it. Today's recipe comes from Nigella Lawson's "Nigellisima" or "Genießen auf Italienisch", as the german version is called and is perfect for spring of summer as this cake is wonderfully refreshing. 

Here's the recipe:
150ml (2/3 cup) vegetable oil
3 eggs
150g (5 oz) plain yoghurt
250g (8.8 oz; 1 cup + 1 tablespoon) white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
grated zest from 1/2 organic lemon
175g (6 oz; 1 cup + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
75g (2.5 oz) cornstarch
1 teaspoon confectioner's sugar, for dusting

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Grease a 22cm spring tin with a whole in the middle and dust with flour.

2) Separate the eggs. Beat the eggwhites until stiff and set aside. 

3) Combine the eggyolks with the sugar and yoghurt and beat for about 5 minutes until significantly lighter in colour and airy in texture.

4) With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract. 

5) Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until combined. Carefully fold in the eggwhites. 

6) Fill the tin with the dough and bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving. 
© Copyright: Nigella Lawson, "Genießen auf Italienisch", p. 199

Active preparation time: about 20 minutes
Total preparation time: 50 minutes

Here's how mine looks:

I didn't manage to snap a picture of a slice because as soon as the cake was halfway cooling down, I started eating... The texture is wonderfully soft and each bite almost melting. The yoghurt makes the cake beautifully moist and the lemon adds just the right amount of freshness. You could try to make the cake in a small (maybe like 18cm) spring tin, but you would have to adjust the baking time as there's no whole. Or you could use a bundt cake tin. The batter would probably fill it by half. Whatever way you decide to give this recipe a try:

Have fun trying and have a great week!