THE YOGURT MAKER

My mother gave me a yogurt maker recently. I am not sure how she came to be in possession of a yogurt maker, since she does not actually cook. If you open her kitchen cabinets, you are likely to find paint, paint brushes, and paint remover instead of food or pots and pans. I think I have only seen her cooking in the kitchen about 3 times in the last ten years.

So now that I have a yogurt maker, I had to give it a try. All that you need is milk and yogurt (or yogurt starter) and lots of time....Once you have filled the glass containers you need to leave them in the machine for 7 to 10 hours.

The containers are so cute and the yogurt smells delicious.

I made plain flavored yogurt, but I will try adding some fruit next time. I think my mother would be proud to know I used the yogurt maker.

GÂTEAU AU YAOURT - YOGURT CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY COULIS

I have wanted to try making a french yogurt cake for some time now. You probably have all the ingredients for the basic yogurt cake in your home so go ahead and try it this weekend. It was so delicious. I had to take a bite before I even had lunch today. It is so very light and not too sweet.

Here is what you need: all purpose flour, eggs, sugar, plain unsweetened yogurt, canola oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of see salt (not pictured).

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs and the yogurt.

Add the sugar and whisk until combined.

This is what it will look like.

Add the vanilla extract. One of these days I will get around to making my own vanilla extract.

Add the canola oil and whisk until combined.

You should have a nice smooth consistency.

I didn't want to dirty another bowl, so I placed a fine mesh strainer over the bowl to sift the dry ingredients.

Place the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pinch of salt in the sieve and sift it directly onto the wet ingredients.

This is what is should look like when you are done sifting.

Whisk until just combined.

Pour the batter into a prepared spring form pan. I use the flour spray instead of buttering and flouring the pan. Place the pan in a preheated 350˚ oven and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden brown. I used a 10 inch spring form pan and my cake was ready in 33 minutes.

When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and let it cool.

I sifted some powdered sugar on top of the cake. You could eat it just like this, but if you want to make a strawberry coulis to pour on top keep reading.

Strawberry Coulis

Here is what you will need: about a cup of strawberries (I only had frozen), 1 tablespoon sugar.

Pour the strawberries and sugar into a saucepan over low heat. Cook the strawberries until they are tender and can be mashed with a wooden spoon. You may need to add a little water. I added less that 1/8 cup of water since I was using frozen strawberries. If you uses fresh strawberries you may have to add a little more.

When the strawberries are mushy, pass the fruit through a fine mess sieve.

You will end up with a sauce that looks like this.

I cut myself a slice of cake.

And poured a little bit of strawberry coulis over it. It was simply divine.



GÂTEAU AU YAOURT - YOGURT CAKE

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• a pinch of sea salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour a spring form pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and yogurt.
3. Add sugar and whisk until combined.
4. Add vanilla and oil and whisk until combined.
5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt directly into the bowl with the wet ingredients and whisk until combined
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. You can serve it warm or at room temperature.

STRAWBERRY COULIS

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• about 1/8 cup water

Preparation

1. Place the strawberries, sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat.
2. Cook until the strawberries are mushy.
3. Pass the strawberries through a fine mesh sieve to get a sauce with a smooth consistency.