15.4.08

lemon yogurt cherry cake and the next martha monday


i had to take a pass on this week's tuesdays with dorie. the selection was marshmallows and i don't use gelatin and i didn't have time to get some vegan alternatives. but please do check out the other awesome TWD bakers that did!

last week i still had leftover lemons and just in time, smitten kitchen to the rescue with her lemon yogurt anything cake, adapted from ina. i've never made a yogurt cake before, but i love yogurt, so why not? although i hesitate to buy berries out of season, i decided to go against olfactory principles and that i must have berries in this lovely cake. until i saw they came from chile. sigh. if i wait just a couple of months i can get them right down the street at the farmer's market. was i going to be stuck with lemon yogurt nothing cake?

but then i decided to buy frozen.
cascadian farms organic cherries, ahhh, the packaging looks so californian! and california is closer than chile, so you know, being environmentally sensitive is all relative. then i get home and see these frozen buggers are from chile too!! ugh. serves me right for thinking i could trick mother nature of the northeast. and with that, my watery cherries (because i was in a rush and didn't wait for them to dry out) fell to the bottom of my cake. boo hoo. was still quite delish, although i think i probably would have preferred the blueberries. and can anyone tell me, is yogurt cake supposed to be this sticky? or was it because of the lemon syrup?


and totally unrelated but without further adieu, i poured through my martha's baking handbook. it's really a tough call, there are so many things that i really would like to make. and plus, i want to get to savories too! but for the next martha monday, i'm staying with the sweet, and have selected ...
mocha roulade, p. 187. honestly i don't even like coffee, but the photo looks so luscious, and i know many people who would love a little espresso powder in their dessert! if you really don't like coffee, you could also try the blackberry roulade on p. 184. i couldn't find an exact version of the mocha recipe on her website, but you can check out the chocolate-chestnut one here.

there are no "rules" to martha mondays except these:

1. post your roulade on monday, 28 april

2. email me the link to your post so i can include it here (mimikatzchen-at-gmail-dot-com)
3. have fun!!

6 comments:

  1. I really need to get Martha's Baking Handbook. I just bought her new cookie book, and I am in love with it!!

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  2. I wouldn't say that yogurt cakes are sticky...they're really moist, though. That's what I love about them.

    I think the cake looked nice with the cherries on the bottom. I'm glad that the cake still turned out tasting good, though. You can pretty stick any fruit or chocolate into a yogurt cake batter, and you'll have something edible.

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  3. it was probably the lemon syrup poured on top that made it sticky. it was really moist, and very yummy and i would definitely make it again.

    deb, so far i've really enjoyed the baking handbook! i know some people don't like her recipes (or her) but for me, it's been more hits than miss, especially with the baking (although not always with the cooking).

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  4. That's funny - I made this exact cake last night and it was a complete disaster for me. I know what I did wrong. I didn't use Meyer Lemons - so it was way too tart. As well, I added strawberries (in addition to blue berries) and it made the cake too moist and didn't cook properly. I'd make it again, but stick closer to the recipe next time.

    I can't really say if mine was sticky. Maybe more gooey inside (i.e., undercooked).

    Did you put your cherries in flour first? I think if you do that it helps to integrate the fruit into the batter more to avoid it from sinking to the bottom. Just a theory.

    I'm going to post my results over the next couple of days. I think it'll be good to get feedback on the disaster.

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  5. i did try to flour them first, but because i was using just thawed cherries, they were still super wet and it became a disgusting floury mess. lesson learned to thaw in advance and let them dry! :)

    i also had to cook it much longer than whatever was indicated on the recipe. the top was turning super brown, but the middle was still completely jiggly. it didn't burn, but i was still surprised by how brown it became without even being close to set.

    what's also funny is i only used meyers, but it could have used a squeeze of regular, because it wasn't tart enough for me!

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  6. Sticky or no this cake looks yummy. I'd love to have a slice with a hot cup of tea right about now. :)


    Ari (Baking and Books)

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