adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

Simple French Dessert: Gâteau au Yaourt

Our friends Jill and Aaron has us over on Sunday for a fabulous dinner and to spend some time with their adorable little nugget, Dezi. 

Dezi in his Bumbo Baby Sitter we got for him

Isn't he a doll?  He is such a good baby and Jill and Aaron are an awesome parenting team.  It was so great to watch them take turns caring for their son as dinner was organized- they make it look so easy!  Jill prepared a beautiful dinner of Kale and Olive Bruschetta, Ribeye Steak, Creamed Spinach and Yorkshire Pudding.  She sure is a super mommy!

We had a great discussion about the many uses of kale!

loved that creamed spinach

I decided to continue my French immersion and take a shot at a classic dessert to round out our meal. Now, I am not a baker, so I did not attempt anything like a tarte tatin or crème brûlée.  Instead I eased into dessert world with a traditional yogurt cake, or Gâteau au Yaourt.  I did, however, put a fun twist on it by turning it into Lemon Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Homemade Whipped Cream.

 

mmmm!

 This cake was light, tasty and very simple to make.  One bowl!  I love one bowl recipes.  It means way less clean up.  The hardest and most time consuming part of this recipe was pushing the raspberry puree through the sieve to get rid of the seeds.

 The cake was a nice closer to a wonderful meal with great friends!  Here's how to make this easy, one bowl, dessert, adapted from Smitten Kitchen:

You'll Need:

Cake

  • 1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (this is the ideal; however, I used 2% Greek yogurt and it turned out fine)
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 eggs
  • 1  2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½  teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Sauce

  • 12 ounces fresh raspberries (frozen should work as well, but you should start with half the water)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan with oil and line the bottom with parchment paper if the pan is not springform.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Add the eggs one by one, whisking well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, right over your yogurt batter. Stir with a spoon until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen. If you’re using the springform pan, unclasp the sides. Otherwise, flip the cake onto a plate and flip it back on the rack. Once cake is cooled, sift confectioners sugar over the top.  Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Make sauce: Combine raspberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in blender or food processor. Purée until very smooth, then press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

you probably already have all this in your house right now!

whisk it. whisk it good.

I forgot to take a picture before putting it in the oven, so here I am trying to snap one sneaky-style

ingredients for the sauce

pureed

pushing it through the sieve. this part was annoying, but necessary

look Ma! no seeds!

fresh from the oven! the original SK recipe said to bake for 35-40 minutes. I baked for 35, checked it and I think it was a little overdone, so I adjusted the bake time to 30-35.

sprinkled with confectioners sugar

Homemade Whipped Cream - put some heavy whipping cream in a chilled bowl. Whip on med/high for a few minutes until soft peaks form. Add about a tablespoon of sugar and keep whipping until you reach a desired consistency

voila!

5 Responses to “Simple French Dessert: Gâteau au Yaourt”

  1. Tammy Wang says:

    Looks so good. I love recipes that are easy to follow … thanks. Jill’s and Aaron’s dinner looked fabulous too.

    By the way, I’m Jill’s Mom and my favorite part of your blog is the picture of my grandson, Dez. He’s delicious :)

  2. Jess says:

    yum! i’m also now obsessed with the kale bruschetta.

  3. aaron says:

    honored to be a part of this fine establishment =D

  4. Wonderful site. Lots of useful information here. I am sending it to some friends ans additionally sharing
    in delicious. And of course, thanks for your effort!

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