Peach and Almond Yogurt Cake
I had gotten used to the pictures of the mountains that I had been posting the past weeks that it feels strange to see just a few pictures of food in this post. Let's forget about the Dolomites for a while and focus on this cake. Let's have a travel break. In a few days, I will be bombarding you with pictures of my next travel destination again. You can also guess where it will be. It's a European country well known for its rich gastronomy and wine culture. Neighbor. Hint. Hint.
A few months ago, I launched my baking adventures in the kitchen. Blunders, disappointments, accomplishments and frustrations, they were all with me in the kitchen. I had been persistent and never gave up when I fail to make a cake look and taste like a cake. I usually make another one immediately after and always learn from my mistakes. I would have abandoned baking altogether from all the disappointments but the desire to have the cakes that I see floating around the web was overwhelming. I would be suffering looking at them anyway, I figured, so why not TRY?
I did try and admittedly, I think I went through a remarkable position from that novice and clumsy baker to an acceptable one. I had been experimenting in baking and it makes me feel so wonderful when a cake comes out from the oven perfectly. Here is one example of my little experiments based on trial and error. Five months ago, I baked this cake, using pears as my choice of fruit. I revisited the recipe while I was vacationing at the Dolomites, using peaches because they are in season. It tasted great but still, the cake was slightly dry. This time, I thought, I have to put more moisture in the form of yogurt. I doubled the amount from the original recipe. Then I also used almond flour in place of 1/3 of the quantity of flour.
I was right. It came out moist and soft and oh so good. Peaches and almonds really work well together. There is a hint of almond in the cake itself because of the almond flour. And well, I couldn't stop eating little slices everytime the cake was within reach. After three tries, this cake finally came out looking and tasting like a real cake.
Have a good week everyone!
Peach and Almond Yogurt Cake
Ingredients:6 - 8 portions in a 24 cm. round baking pan
- 2 eggs
- 2 (125 ml.) pots of yogurt
- 1 pot of sugar (using the pot of the yogurt to measure)
- 2 pots flour, sifted
- 1 pot almond flour
- flour for spreading on the pan
- 1/2 pot peanut oil
- 16 grams lievito in polvere (baking powder)
- 1 untreated lemon, rind only
- pinch of salt
- knob of butter for buttering the pan
- powdered sugar
- 1-1/2 pots peaches, chopped
- about 2 peaches, sliced (optional)
- almond shavings
- Rub the butter on a 24 cm. baking pan. Cover with some flour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Transfer the yogurt to a bowl. Rinse and dry the container.
- Prepare the ingredients using the clean yogurt container. Fill up the container for the quantity of sugar and transfer it to a bowl.
- Fill up the container twice for the flour and transfer to a separate bowl. Fill up the container with almond flour and transfer to the bowl with flour. Add the baking powder.
- Fill up the container half-way for the oil and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until the color becomes lighter and it becomes creamy.
- Incorporate the yogurt and mix with a spatula.
- Add the oil and mix well..
- Add the lemon rind, salt and flour. Mix well.
- Add the diced peaches and mix well.
- Transfer the cake mixture to the baking pan. Layer the sliced peaches on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes. To check if the cake is cooked, prick it with a toothpick. If it comes out clean (dry and without anything attached to it), then the cake is cooked.
- Let the cake cool. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle powdered sugar and almond shavings on top.
