I do not think it would be a suprise for anyone who reads this blog to discover that I love not only cook books in general, but that I also have a love and respect for Nigella Lawson and her books specifically. It would therefore be logical to presume I was excited for the publication of her new cookbook Nigellissima.
My first thoughts are it’s a lot more glossy than her previous works. I love the rustic natural style of Kitchen. I also found it interesting that the presentation has changed; recipes are presented in concise steps, rather than the essay style that I admire.
Having said that, I couldn’t wait to try out a recipe. On a Friday night, following a stressful week at home and at work, I needed to bake something. I came across this recipe for Yoghurt Pot Cake and had everything required in either the pantry or the fridge.
It’s called a Yogurt Pot Cake, because all ingredients use the yoghurt pot as a measuring cup, but thankfully there were also metric measurements.
I loved the cake, it tasted like spring. The yoghurt makes the cake incredibly moist and the lemon leaves a lovely aftertaste. I also like any excuse to make a cake in a bundt tin!
Ingredients
- 150g natural yoghurt
- 150ml vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
- 3 eggs
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 175g plain flour
- 75g cornflour
- Optional: icing sugar to dust
Method
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Preheat to 180°C and grease your cake tin (either a springform or a ring mould – I used a bundt tin)<;/li
Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites until they form stiff peaks.
In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and yoghurt until light and airy. While whisking, slowly add the oil, zest and vanilla extract. Finally add the flours.
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Fold in the egg whites. I always follow this method: add 1/4 of the whites and mix them through before folding in the remaining egg whites with the utmost care.Transfer into the prepared tin.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
,
A Tale of Two Kitchens 
Thank you so much for this recipe, I wanted to try it after watching Nigella’s show but wasn’t sure what size yoghurt pot to use!
Your cake looks lovely! I can’t help but notice it’s not the sunflower yellow of Nigella’s, did you use cocoa for that “marble cake” effect? Or is it perhaps those ridiculously-hard-to-get Italian eggs she uses, with the saffron coloured yolks that were responsible for her cake’s colour? I want to know what to expect! Thanks!
Hi Rossana, thank-you for your comment!
Yes – the metric measurements were a necessity as I did not have an appropriately sized yoghurt pot.
I think the colour can be explained by not only the eggs (I would love to get my hands on these mythical eggs!) but also the bundt tin which browns cake more easily. Inside the cake was a lovely pale yellow, in between a banana and lemon!
Hope that helps,
Mel
Thank you for your answer, I was just about to start on it ( so it will be ready for tomorrow morning’s breakfast ). I’ve put on the episode of Nigellissima where she makes the cake and she doesn’t mention regular flour at all! It’s just a pot of cornflour. I think I’ll follow your recipe but was wondering why the book version and the Tv version should be different? Thanks again!
Followed tv clip and ended up with stodgy ….one cup of corn flour is not nearly enough. Thought it was us!
Damn the Lack of flour in the T.V. show just got me too :-(. Nigella has let me down, can I ever trust here again ! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe. Glad I stumbled on this before following the TV recipe!
Glad you’ve written this out since I just made this cake following the tv recipe and there is no mention of plain flour. I’m looking at a collapsed soggy mess! Shame on Nigella. I don’t think my fiancé will be too impressed with his valentine day treat. Yeesh!