THE ROCK BUN STILL RANKS NUMBER ONE

 

Made Lemon Yogurt Cake a couple more times.  Gave one to Mayz.  

Mum, who seemed to enjoy the cake just a few days ago, doesn't like it anymore.

This morning she said, "I think the cookies with the dried fruits (she means Rock Buns) are SO MUCH nicer!"

Then, a friend gave us a few slices of butter cake.  Unfortunately, Mum wasn't impressed. "They aren't as nice as the yogurt cake that you make!"

I guess this means that the Lemon Yogurt Cake now ranks Number 2?

YELLOW = ORANGE

Had lunch at Wild Coco with Eunice and Eva yesterday.  Baked them each a small lemon yogurt cake.  It used to be one of my mother's favourites but she has now forgotten about it completely.  Dementia can turn out to be a good thing because there would come a point when everything you come across is new and exciting.  My mum's most common phrase in recent years: "I've never eaten this before in my life!"

Yesterday she wanted to know why I was putting orange zest in the batter.  When I informed her it was lemon zest she asked, "But isn't lemon supposed to be green?"

This morning, I baked a second batch of cake.  Mum asked, "Is that orange you're using?!"  When she tasted it her comment was, "It is VERY GOOD!  Adding orange is a brilliant idea."

"I used to make this cake quite often.  Don't you remember?" I asked.

Just as I expected, she said "I've never had this before in my entire life!"

A few weeks ago, my mother insisted that she has diabetes.  Even the doctor wasn't able to convince her otherwise so she was sent to the lab to have her finger pricked.  The result was negative.  Mum came home a happy bunny.

Mum makes every single day a drama.  

SLUGGISH SUNDAY

 

A Sunday just the way I like it.  Nowhere to rush to.  Took my time to bake a cake.

I've made this French-style lemon yogurt cake countless times.  The recipe is incredibly easy and totally foolproof.  Everyone loves the addition of unblanched almond flour, and Greek yogurt.  

Today, I purposely baked the cakes for a tiny bit more time so the tops have more colour.  Dorie Greenspan says that when you’re baking, color equals flavor and I totally agree. :D

Once the cake is completely cool, you may like to drizzle a lemon glaze over it using a tablespoon.  Today I've omitted the glaze.

BAKING AGAIN

Happy birthday to me.  You can now follow Chilli Crab on Instagram !

I had friends over on Sunday afternoon and because I had promised to produce a cake for tea, I got off my butt and started baking again.  I baked one on Sunday, a second yesterday, and one more today.

I've made this Lemon Yogurt Cake again and again for almost a decade.  Usually I use blanched almond flour that is readily available in the local supermarket.  Today I'm using unblanched Australian Almond Meal for the first time.  It's not as fine and I do like the reddish tone that the almond skin brings to the cake.  "Grainy," my mum commented after her first bite.  "Rustic," I decided.

Australian Almond Meal

Chilli Crab Kitchen is on IG.

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SUMMER LOVIN'

When you see lemons in abundance, you know that summer has arrived. I love lemons - so fragrant, so versatile.  And they are especially plump and juicy this season.

The time has come, said ChilliCrab, to make French-style Lemon Yogurt Cake. 

It's hard not to fall in love with this cake. Just how good is it? Mama Crab and Papa Crab gobbled up 3 slices between themselves even before I had time to grab my camera.  When I take them to work, they're gone long before I had a chance to draft the hi-everyone-there-is-cake-in-the-usual-corner email.  It's that irresistable.  One cake never last very long.

So how about FOUR?

Gâteau au Citron

FRENCH-STYLE LEMON YOGURT CAKE
Adapted from this recipe by Orangette

Makes two 16.5cm x 8cm x 7.5cm loaves or

two 18.5cm x 9.5cm x 5cm or

one 20.5cm x 10cm x 5.5cm

For the cake: 
125 grams plain yogurt
200 grams granulated sugar
3 large eggs
140 grams all-purpose flour
60 grams almond meal (ground almond)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Grated lemon zest from 2 lemons
95 grams canola oil

For the glaze: 
Juice from 2 lemons
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven at 180 degrees C.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour and scrape the batter into oiled cake pan/s.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. 

Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely. 

When the cake is thoroughly cooled, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.

Serve.

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WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS

Tammy and I met in 1991. Our company sent us (she from Hong Kong and I from Singapore ) to Kuala Lumpur for the launch of a set of limited edition coins commemorating the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. We shared not just a hotel room but also a love for movies, shopping and good food. We kept in touch via hand-written letters and greeting cards. Over the years, the snail-mails turned into emails; and the love for good food developed into a passion for cooking and baking. Each time we visited each other’s city, we swap recipes and traded baking books.

Tammy gets carried away in baking specialty shops like Phoon Huat in Singapore . And Fairprice Xtra. “There is no store this massive in Hong Kong,” she tells me enviously, “you Singaporeans are so lucky.”

Whenever she stays over, Tammy has to put up with a tiny sofa bed and a shared bathroom. When we are not out shopping and sampling at new restaurants, we’d be curled up on the little sofa bed – girl talk and reminiscing about old times.

One morning, I suggested that we should bake a cake. Her eyes lit up. “Let’s do a really simple one. Something you’ve done many times.” So we baked this French-style Lemon Yogurt Cake. For those of you who are familar with Orangette, you must be aware the special meaning this cake holds for blogger Molly and her husband Brendon. And if you’ve read Molly’s site (and her book) you’ll know that Molly's “Winning Hearts and Minds Cake” is her chocolate wedding cake. For me, if by some chance Orangette fans could accept a second "Winning Hearts and Minds Cake", this Lemon Yogurt Cake would have to be it! The recipe is so easy to follow and I've had to bake it again and again and again at the encore of neighbours, colleagues and friends. It truly wins the hearts and minds of everyone around me.

Tammy shares my enthusiasm for the Winning Hearts and Minds Cake. She eagerly grated the lemon zest (which, to me, is the most hateful job in the world!) and sifted the flour. I fired up the oven, weighed out the ingredients and demonstrated to her just how easy it was. When the cake came out of the oven, Tammy cooed in delight. She was won over even before she has had a taste.

Needless to say, Tammy returned home with the recipe. Her kitchen in Hong Kong is particularly small, a 9-inch round cake is out of the question with a counter-top oven. So she baked several batches of mini cupcakes. Tammy later told me that her father commented that the cakes were “very nice” (which in truth meant “out of this world” because he normally only grants a slight nod of approval for most baked goods). Tammy’s father passed away some months afterwards. Two weeks after she broke the news, I suddenly found myself sighing in relief: Well, at least he had a taste of the lemon yogurt cake! Somehow, the thought left me a little less sad.

Chilli Crab Kitchen is on IG.