The holiday baking, part III

 

 

After I made the ecstatically well-received Pistachio-Cardamom Loaf Cake, I decided that loaf cakes would be a good avenue to explore. I also had an extra orange and more than half a container of whole-milk yogurt left over, so this cake seemed like a sound choice for more holiday baking.

 

I made this one while the whole fam was here, and Cassie kept insisting it was just like a lemon-poppy seed cake ... except that it doesn't have lemon or poppy seeds in it, but okay. This cake is a relatively blank canvas, however, so if you want to swap out the orange zest for lemon zest (or grapefruit or lime) and add poppy seeds (or something else), knock yourself out! You can also play around with the spice you use; cardamom (using less) would be a good choice, but I bet something more exotic like Chinese five spice powder would be interesting too. I also think this would make an excellent substitution for Classic Pound Cake when making Grandma Pina's Strawberry Cream Cake. 

Yogurt Loaf Cake with Coriander and Orange

Adapted from Milk Street Bakes (recipe) (video)

Time: <13 minutes to get the cake into the oven, then baking and cooling time

I changed the original recipe so that the whole thing comes together in just one big bowl. You can substitute lemon, lime, or grapefruit zest for the orange for variety. If you use lemon zest, feel free to add poppy seeds to make this a lemon-poppy seed cake. You can also try different spices such as cardamom or Chinese five spice powder, but be judicious with how much you use the first time you experiment.

3 large eggs (~57 grams each still in the shell)
210 grams (~1 cup) granulated white sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
Zest of 1 orange (see note)
120 grams (½ cup) plain whole-milk yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground coriander (see note)

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
105 grams (½ cup) neutral oil such as grapeseed or sunflower
2 teaspoons baking powder
230 grams (~1¾ cups) all-purpose flour

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, heat to 350 degrees. Pam spray an 8½-by-4½-inch (1 pound) loaf pan; if it’s not nonstick like a USA Pan, dust evenly with flour, then tap out the excess.
    2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk just to break them up a bit. Add the sugar and orange zest and whisk vigorously for one full minute, until thickened and lighter in color.
    3. Add the yogurt, vanilla, coriander, and salt and whisk until smooth.
    4. Add the oil and whisk until homogeneous.
    5. Sprinkle over the baking powder and whisk until combined.
    6. Add the flour, and whisk gently until just combined; don’t overmix.
    7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle over the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 45 to 50 minutes.
    8. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely, about 90 minutes. Store at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 days.