July 9, 2006

Yogurt Cake with Pears and Ginger

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four.
Unless there are three other people."
-Orson Welles

I have to stop myself from eating 4 servings of this cake! This cake has been spinning around in my mind for a few weeks now. I do love a good yogurt cake for le goûter, or afternoon snack, and I hadn't made one for awhile. Plus, after seeing this pear and ginger cake at La Tartine Gourmande, I couldn't wait to sample the taste of fresh ginger in a cake! The result was fabulous and I'm proud to say the whole thing was devoured by me and my friends, over several days, of course. So, see? I waited for 3 other people.

The hint of ginger is just right - not too much, but enough to just detect its presence. The pears match wonderfully with the ginger and their texture is just lovely. The only thing I would change would be to layer the pears in the batter or on top. This time I just placed the pears in the pan and poured the batter over them, so, of course, that's where they stayed! Dust the top with a little powdered sugar and you have an incredibly easy and delicious cake that's perfect for brunch, tea time or afternoon snack. If you serve it for dessert, make it a small portion with a small scoop of good vanilla ice cream. I actually think it's a bit heavy for an after-dinner dessert, so just eat it all before dinner. You have my permission.

Gâteau au Yaourt aux Poires et au Gingembre:
Yogurt Cake with Pears and Fresh Ginger
(recipe adapted from Clotilde and Bea
at La Tartine Gourmande)

1 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp (yes, Tbsp) baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp light rum
2-3 almost-ripe pears
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Generously butter and flour a 9-in pie plate. In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the 2 eggs. Whisk in the yogurt, oil and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, run and fresh ginger. In another bowl, combine the sifted flour and baking powder. Gradually stir in half the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just smooth. Stir in the rest gently but do not overmix the batter. The mixture will thicken quite a bit.

Peel the pears and dice them into approximately 1-inch pieces. You want enough to make one fairly crowded layer, but not more. Layer half the batter in the bottom of the pan. Spread the pieces of pear in one layer over the batter. Spread the rest of the batter over the pears. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar upon eating.

One of the easiest cakes to make - and always rewarded with "oohs!" and "aahs!" and maybe, if you're lucky, an "oh la la..."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now I have to make this yogurt cake! I love your addition of pears!

Jen said...

I am just about to post about an orange and yoghurt cake that I made today, although it doesn't look quite as moist and fluffy as yours : )

Anonymous said...

This looks wonderful. I'm not finding pears at the moment. I am finding peaches. I'll have to think about that.

Chez Megane said...

Ivonne - Thanks! The pears were delicious.
JenJen - An orange cake sounds great!
Tanna - Thanks! Peaches would be wonderful, I think!

Unknown said...

wonderful cake! And it is so quick and easy to make! I only had one pear and it still turned out just great.

Love it! said...

Thank you for this recipe! I have been using it for over 2 years now and every time I make it it turns out well. but it usually takes over 45 mins to bake -- in my oven it only gets the nice color after 55 mins or an hour.