Stephen Ceideburg
2 1/2 c Sifted cake flour
1 1/2 ts Baking powder
1 ts Baking soda
1/4 ts Salt
8 oz Unsalted butter, room
-temperature
1 1/2 c Sugar
4 Eggs, room temperature
2 oz Unblanched almonds, ground
2 ts Finely grated zest of 1
-lemon
8 oz Plain low-fat yogurt, room
-temperature
This recipe illustrates a helpful feature: ingredients listed with
weights. It’s easy to go to the supermarket and buy 8 ounces of
yogurt and 2 ounces of almonds, but try eyeballing 2 cups yogurt or
1/3 cup almonds.
Adjust rack in lower third of oven; preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or a 12-cup Bundt (decorative)
tube pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of
waxed paper.
Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large
mixing bowl). Using an electric mixer, preferably fitted with a
paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until it is
lighter in color and has a satiny appearance. Maintaining the same
speed, add the sugar and continue to cream until the mixture is very
light in color and fluffy in appearance.
Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Continue to cream, stopping the mixer and
scraping the sides of the bowl at least once. When the mixture appears
fluffy, light in color and velvety, and has increased in volume,
detach the paddle and bowl. Stir in the ground almonds and lemon zest
with a rubber spatula.
Using the rubber spatula, stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then add
half of the yogurt, stirring to blend. Repeat, alternating dry and
liquid ingredients, ending with a final addition of flour. Scrape the
sides of the bowl often, and mix until smooth after each addition.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and level it.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake springs back slightly when
touched lightly in the center the sides begin to contract from the
pan and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center. comes out free of
cake. Place the cake on a rack to cool for 10 minutes.
Cover the cake with a cooling rack, and invert it onto the rack.
Carefully lift off the pan. Cool completely before serving.
If you plan to use this cake within 24 hours, wrap it in plastic wrap
and store at room temperature. To freeze, cover the plastic wrapped
package with foil.
PER SERVING: 370 calories, 6 g protein, 43 g carbohydrate, 20 g fat
(11 g saturated), 113 mg cholesterol, 193 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.
Flo Braker writing in The San Francisco Chronicle, 10/25/93.
Yields
12 Servings