Wednesday, October 8, 2008

the pw's yogurt-marmalade cake

This is the third time I've made The Pioneer Woman's yogurt-marmalade cake, and each time I tweak it a bit more. Look here to see what I've done differently in the past.

And this time? Well, I went one step further and added THREE lemons' worth of zest for even greater zingy highs and I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup (half of what PW calls for). I still can't get my version to rise as high as hers, but my friend Chisa here in Japan told me that the less sugar you put in a cake, the flatter it will be. Maybe that's it. But as Chisa said, I'd rather have less sugar and less rising because it means more fruity yogurty flavors get to shine through. (I usually put way less sugar in recipes than they call for anyway. All I have to do is put my finger in the batter and voila! Perfect sweetness. And perfect humility.)

My friend Kim at Kim's Kantan Cooking recently made this cake her way: She turned it into a fall conconction with chopped sweet potatoes, apples, raisins, and walnuts instead of the orange flavor. I wish she lived closer because I would definitely be inviting myself over for a slice of that!

5 comments:

Peter M said...

This looks awesome, I want some of that candied orange.

Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...

Thanks, Peter! It's actually a sauce made with orange marmalade and plain yogurt, and I also add some lemon juice squeezes as well. Yum!

Kim said...

Abigail, when I was reading PW's three trillion comments on her cake, one person commented on the lack of height on PW's cake too. The commenter said that reducing the temperature to 325 F. should help the raising. And as we all know, because we check the conversion chart - that is 162 C. SMILE.

Ivy said...

Abigail, I made some caramelized orange peels last week and have them in the refrigerator as I wasn't feeling well this week. I added butter and fresh cream to the sauce. I didn't know that sugar helps the rising of the cake and I always add less sugar to my cakes.

Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...

Kim, that sounds like a good idea! I'll try it next time.

Ivy, I realized you weren't posting very much this week - I hope you feel all better soon!