In my family it is a tradition to make some treat on Tax Day, the 15th of April, to “sweeten the bite”. This year I made a simple yogurt cake with fudge icing: a simple but fabulous cake.
Yogurt cakes are, in general, easy to make and quite delicious. The yogurt helps keep the cake moist, and its acidity works with the baking soda to make the cake lighter. This cake might be varied in lots of ways: split and layered with jam, whipped cream, and berries. Or split, layered with custard, and keep the fudge icing: you’ll have a classic Boston Cream Pie, which (of course) isn’t a pie at all.
I like to use yogurt in the fudge icing, also. It’s easy and very fast, and you can depend on gravity to pull the icing into an attractive almost-dripping-off-the-edge pattern.
for the cake:
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Liberally grease a 9″ round cake pan that is at least 2″ deep. (I like to use a 9-inch contour (rounded at the bottom edge) cake pan like this one.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each one. When both eggs are in, beat at high speed for 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and become fluffy.
Add to the batter the vanilla and almond extracts, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir well to combine.
Add the flour and yogurt, alternating between them. Start and end with flour: 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the yogurt, half the remaining flour, the rest of the yogurt, then the rest of the flour. Combine gently after each addition. At the end, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake 35-45 minutes, until it is golden brown on top, the edges begin to pull away from the pan sides, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then turn out, upside down, onto a rack and cool completely.
for the icing:
Sift the sugar: yes, really, sift it. At least pass it through a sieve – it’s important that you not have any lumps.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the cocoa powder and yogurt and bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
Work quickly now, and add the cocoa mixture to the sugar, beating until it is very smooth and glossy. Quickly pour the still-warm icing over the cooled cake, and let it drip over the sides.
For neat slices, let the icing cool completely before serving.
Yogurt Cake with Fudge Icing
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1⅔ cup all-purpose flour (7 oz)
- 1 c plain yogurt (whole-fat yogurt is best)
FOR THE FUDGE ICING
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)
- ¼ c plain yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2½ c powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Liberally grease a 9″ round cake pan that is at least 2″ deep.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each one. When both eggs are in, beat at high speed for 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and become fluffy.
- Add the to the batter vanilla and almond extracts, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir well to combine.
- Alternately add the flour and yogurt, starting and ending with flour: 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the yogurt, half the remaining flour, the rest of the yogurt, then the rest of the flour. Combine gently after each addition. At the end, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake 35-45 minutes, until it’s golden brown on top, the edges begin to pull away from the pan sides, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
FOR THE FUDGE ICING
- Sift the sugar: yes, really, sift it. At least pass it through a sieve – it’s important that you not have any lumps.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the cocoa powder and yogurt, bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
- Work quickly now, and add the cocoa mixture to the sugar, beating until it is very smooth and glossy. Quickly pour the still-warm icing over the cooled cake, and let it drip over the sides.