50 Women Game Changers in Food - #20 Molly Wizenberg - French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Molly Wizenberg has degrees in biology, French and cultural anthropology, but several years ago she left academia to become a freelance food writer and creator of the enormously popular blog, Orangette. She was raised in a family of food lovers and she learned to cook because "the kitchen was where things happened." Her intended career path changed after a period of introspection that followed the unsettling death of her father. A friend suggested she write a food blog as an outlet for her intense interest in food and in 2004 Orangette was born. Orangette's audience grew steadily and in 2009 it was named the world's top food blog by the Times of London. For a time she was also a columnist for Bon Appetit magazine and her memoir, A Homemade Life, was on the New York Times bestseller list. She and her husband, whom she met through a correspondence that began on her blog, operate a restaurant, called Delancey, in Seattle. She holds position 20 on the Gourmet Live list of Women Game Changers in food. I've chosen her recipe for French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon to share with you today. This is the recipe that inspired her husband to introduce himself to her. It is simple, delicious and quite easy to prepare. I like to use Meyer lemons for the cake and glaze. Here's her recipe.

Gâteau au Citron - French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Molly Wizenberg

"This type of cake is an old classic in France, the sort of humble treat that a grandmother would make. Traditionally, the ingredients are measured in a yogurt jar, a small glass cylinder that holds about 125 ml. Because most American yogurts don't come in such smart packaging, you'll want to know that 1 jar equals about 1/2 cup."

Ingredients
For the cake:
1 jar plain yogurt
2 jars granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 jars unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 jar canola oil

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

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) 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 a buttered 9-inch round cake pan (after buttering, I sometimes line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and then I butter that too).
3) 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.
4) Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.
5) 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.

Variations: This type of yogurt-based cake is a terrific base for many improvisations. For a basic yogurt cake, simply leave out the lemon zest, and do not use the lemon juice glaze. For an almond version, try replacing 1 jar of flour with 1 jar of finely ground almonds. You can also play with adding various fruits (if frozen, do NOT thaw before adding) or nuts, if you like. When I add fruit, I generally pour half the cake batter into the prepared pan, top it with a layer of fruit, and then pour in the other half of the batter, sometimes adding more fruit on the very top.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Molly Wizenberg today. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey, Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets, Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen, Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts, Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green,Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda, Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof, Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Ree Drummond. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, October 24th.